


The Stars In Your Eyes Light Up The Sky

by andthensusays



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, Prince Harry Styles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-02
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-03 05:29:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 60,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1066315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthensusays/pseuds/andthensusays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once again, Harry’s life was on a fast track into seriously uncharted territory. He had known from the moment he’d woken up on that horrible morning that he would have no choice other than to come out. Publicly. </p><p>Harry Styles, the first publicly gay Prince of England in British History.</p><p>That would be his luck.</p><p>Or,</p><p>The one where Harry is a prince forced out of the closet and Louis is a boybander forced in. When they meet, everything changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a sucker for Royalty AUs. This story absolutely will not leave me alone! I'm not sure about final length, but I'm guessing it will be around 10 chapters in total, but that is subject to change. 
> 
> Fair warning, I've taken quite a bit of liberties with the British monarchy. Don't expect the monarchy in this fic to match up exactly with what exists in real life. 
> 
> Story title taken from the lyrics to Love Like Rockets by Angels and Airwaves.

The first thing people usually recognize about Harry Styles is that he is the Prince of England. He’s the second born child and only son of Queen Anne, and he is currently second in line for the thrown, behind his older sister Princess Gemma.

The second thing that people usually recognize about him (at least, as of Halloween night) is that Prince Harry is gay.

It wasn’t something that he’d meant for people to find out about, at least not so soon. He was nineteen, and even though he liked to think that he was a pretty independent nineteen, there were still parts of him that felt like he was still just a boy. He hadn’t even decided what university he was going to attend when the scandal broke. When the media pressed the palace for a response, Harry’s mother wanted him to say that he was still exploring his sexuality, but he couldn’t quite make his mouth form such a lie. He’d known that he was attracted to boys since forever, really. It was a part of him that he just couldn’t change. And even though having… _relations_ …with members of the same sex wasn’t exactly unheard of in the long history of the royal family, it had never, _ever_ , been exposed to the public. It was supposed to remain a shameful secret, as had been done for centuries.

Except, Harry _wasn’t_ ashamed. It’s just…he thought he’d have more time. Time to figure out his life, time to settle down, time to wrap his mind around exactly what he was going to tell the public when the time came.

Unfortunately for Harry, after one _very_ well photographed kiss on Halloween with fucking Nick Grimshaw of all people, the time was _now_.

Harry had woken up the morning after Halloween to his picture splashed all over the papers and his mother having an absolute fit. She was _furious_ with the media for exposing her son, and she was calling for heads to roll. There was a time, she had screamed furiously, when there were _lines_ that the media _did not cross_. Now, in the information age where news was available at the touch of a button, there _were_ no lines. It was an entirely new ballgame, and the royal family was still trying to figure out how to catch up.

Harry had been in hiding for two weeks, going through meeting after meeting, weighing his options. After the incident occurred, the palace naturally submitted their typical comment saying “the palace does not comment on the personal lives of the royal family,” but everyone knew that such a comment wouldn’t do anything to fight off the increasing curiosity of the public.

Once again, Harry’s life was on a fast track into seriously uncharted territory. He had known from the moment he’d woken up on that horrible morning that he would have no choice other than to come out. Publicly.

Harry Styles, the first publicly gay Prince of England in British History.

That _would_ be his luck.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Gemma said softly, breaking Harry from his reverie. They were backstage in a dressing room at The Jonathan Ross Show. When Harry had officially made the decision to publicly come out, he had been advised to release a press statement first, and then do some media interviews to quell some of the questions and curiosity that such a statement would bring. As it were, the media statement had just been released that morning, and Harry hadn’t even had the nerve to check his twitter to see what the general reaction was. He just kept telling himself that if it were really _that_ horrible, someone would cancel his appearances and send him ‘on holiday’ until the public outcry died down. As he was scheduled to go on in five minutes, he assumed that things weren’t _that_ bad.

“Don’t really have much of a choice,” Harry replied with a shrug.

“There’s always a choice.”

“Not for me,” Harry said sadly, but confidently. “I’m not ashamed, Gem. M’not gonna pretend to be someone I’m not.”

Gemma nodded, her eyes filling with tears, “I’m angry for you, then. This should have been your choice, when you were _ready_. They forced your hand and it isn’t fair.”

Harry just shrugged again, as if to say _it is what it is_. Gemma reached out and ran her hand through his hair, fixing him with a watery smile and the fondest expression he’d ever seen from his sister.

“I’m _so proud_ of you, Harry,” Gemma said seriously.

Harry wanted to tell her thank you, tell her that he could never be doing any of this without her, but his throat felt heavy and he didn’t trust himself to speak so he just wrapped her in a hug, hoping that could convey just how much he loved her.

It must have, because she squeezed him back just as hard.

Then, far too soon for Harry’s liking, there was a knock on the door.

“They’re ready for you, Your Royal Highness,” an assistant stated.

“Thank you,” Harry said, taking a deep breath and following her to the stage.

He stood in the wings, nervous energy buzzing through his entire body as he listened to Jonathan introduce him.

“Our first guest tonight has had quite a few people talking over the past couple of weeks, and has graciously agreed to spend time with us to help clear up some of the many rumors he has flying around him. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to introduce His Royal Highness, Prince Harry Styles!”

The crowd cheered wildly—Harry had always been a favorite with the public, his sister swore it was his curls—and Harry walked out with a smile and a wave, perfectly practiced public persona masking any of the nervousness that he was feeling.

“It’s so lovely to see you, Your Highness, thank you for agreeing to come on tonight,” Jonathan said once they were both sitting down.

“Oh, call me Harry, please, and thank you so much for having me,” Harry said with a charming smile.

“How have you been?”

“Doing well, you know, just hanging in,” Harry responded.

“Yes, I’m sure these last couple of weeks have been quite difficult for you.”

“I suppose you could say that. Certainly not how I’d expected to begin my November, at least, but here we are.”

“Yes, here we are,” Jonathan said with a friendly smile. “Now, for the viewers at home who’ve not yet read the papers or heard the news, Prince Harry has released a statement clearing up some of the rumors that have been flying around over the last couple of weeks regarding his sexuality. Now, Harry, if you don’t mind I’d like to just take a moment to read the statement if I could?”

“No, go ahead,” Harry said, trying to look as relaxed as possible.

“The statement reads: ‘Prince Harry would like to address some of the statements being made about him in the press. Regarding the rumors of his sexuality, Prince Harry would like to confirm that he is gay, and requests that the media and the public grant him privacy and respect in further speculation about his personal life.’”

To Harry’s surprise, the studio audience burst into applause at the end of the statement. He tried to school his features, but was certain that his exterior cracked for a moment.

“Short and to the point, I like it,” Jonathan said easily.

“Not much else needs to be said, really,” Harry said, exhaling a nervous breath, for the first time really believing that he’ll make it through this interview unscathed. “Things are said and printed about us every day, and for the most part they’re just complete rubbish, so you just can’t address everything or else you’ll make yourself crazy.”

“But you felt the need to address this particular story, obviously,” Jonathan prompted.

“Well, sure,” Harry said easily. “This wasn’t just like who are they dating or where are they going, this was my life, you know, who I am. And obviously there was some truth behind it, so…”

The audience laughed as he gave a self-deprecating smile.

“It’s important, though, that you’ve been able to come out like this. You’re the first in the history of the royal family.”

Harry pulled a face at the statement and chuckled, “that’s such a strange thing to say. And it’s been everywhere; I mean all the headlines read Harry Styles: First Gay Prince of England. And it makes me feel like I’m some kind of pariah, like I’ve got mad cow disease or something, you know?” Harry joked, making everyone laugh.

 “I know that the official statement was just released this morning, but have you had a chance to read any of the reactions that have been happening online?”

“I haven’t had a chance yet, no,” Harry said, biting his lower lip before admitting, “I’ve been avoiding it a bit, actually. I think I’ve been a little scared to see the things that people are saying. I’m used to getting a lot of hate on twitter and such for little things like how my hair looks stupid or how I talk too slowly, but this is more personal than that. It’s who I am. I’ll catch up with everything later on tonight, I’m sure. Can’t avoid it forever, right?”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better from what I’ve seen the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive,” Jonathan said.

“That’s really nice to hear,” Harry said with a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

“Now, Prince Harry, I know that millions of boys around the world would have my head if I didn’t ask the question that everyone is wondering. Are you dating anyone?” Jonathan asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

“No,” Harry said with a genuine laugh. “One thing at a time, I think. Gemma and I have always said that anyone crazy enough to date us has to put up with an enormous amount of baggage. This is only compounding on that, I’m sure.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re looking for someone brave and manly,” Jonathan teased. “Your own knight in shining armor?”

Harry let out a genuine giggle before shaking his head, “Not necessarily. I’m really just looking for someone I can get on with, you know? The same things everyone looks for, I think. Someone who makes me laugh, who I can be myself with.”

“And attractive, I assume?” Jonathan pushed with a grin.

“Doesn’t hurt,” Harry shrugged before giving a dimpled grin in response.

“And is there anyone in particular that you have your eye on? Celebrity crush of the moment?”

“I wouldn’t say anyone in particular,” Harry said with a shrug, before getting a mischievous smile on his face and continuing, “actually, no, I take that back. You know who I’ve recently been really into? One Direction.”

The audience chuckles at Harry confession and he grins conspiratorially.

“I know how it sounds! I’m not actually a 13 year old girl, I promise. But Gemma was playing that new song of theirs and I really enjoyed it,” Harry said honestly.

“They’re not bad to look at either,” Jonathan teased. “Do you have a favorite?”

“A favorite?” Harry parroted, biting his lip as he tried to decide whether or not he should answer. “Well, like you said, they’re all pretty attractive.”

“Oh come on, everyone has a favorite!” Jonathan probed.

“I think Louis Tomlinson is quite fit,” Harry admitted, hoping that he didn’t blush as he said it.

“Have you ever met them?” Jonathan asked. “They’ve been on the show a couple of times before, they’re really nice lads.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard they’re all lovely, but I haven’t had the chance to meet them yet,” Harry answered easily. “Maybe one day.”

 “And how are your mum and sister?” Jonathan asked, transitioning away from the more personal questions.

“They’re good, Gemma’s actually backstage now, she came with me for moral support,” Harry replied before teasing, “she didn’t do a very good job, though, she very nearly had me crying in the dressing room.”

“Crying!” Jonathan exclaimed. “That doesn’t sound very supportive!”

“No,” Harry laughed, knowing that Gemma would get him for this later, “she just had some very sweet things to say. I just got choked up a bit; you know how siblings are, those compliments are hard-earned!”

The audience let out an _awww_ , and Harry gave a dimpled grin in response.

“So it sounds like your family has been very supportive, then.”

“Very much so, yes. I’m very lucky,” Harry responded honestly. “I guess I just never felt like it was really that big of a deal. It’s a part of who I am, and my family and friends have pretty much always known and always been so supportive that I guess it’s just been easy for me to conveniently forget that this is historical, in a way, and I think it’s a testament to our society that I’m even able to sit here and say that I’m gay whereas even 30 years ago that never would have been possible.”

There’s more thunderous applause at the end of Harry’s statement, and he grins upon hearing it, ducking his head down a bit in an attempt to hide just _how_ pleased he is with the reaction that he’s getting.

“I think you put it wonderfully,” Jonathan said honestly, “and thank you so much for being with us tonight. We’re all rooting for you, and wish you the best of luck. Ladies and gentlemen, Prince Harry!”

The crowd burst into applause one last time, rising to give him a standing ovation. Harry waved to the crowd and gave them the widest, dimpled smile that he could manage.

He did it.

Later that night, somewhere across London, Louis Tomlinson was sitting drinking tea with his bandmate Zayn, watching The Jonathan Ross Show. 

"I can't believe this kid," Zayn said. "It takes such balls to do what he's doing."

"Bravery," Louis agreed, taking a sip of his tea.

 _‘Actually, no, I take that back. You know who I’ve recently been really into? One Direction.’_

"Did he just?" Louis asked with a startled laugh.

"He did!" Zayn exclaimed. "If we're being backed by the Prince does that mean that we've officially made it?"

"Shhh, shut up, I want to hear who his favorite is!"

_‘I think Louis Tomlinson is quite fit.’_

Louis spit his tea out all over himself, quite ungracefully.

"Me?!" Louis exclaimed, shocked.

"What's wrong with you?" Zayn asked, laughing as his friend got up to get a towel to wipe off his shirt.

"Nothing’s wrong with me! I mean, I just...it's never me. It's always you. _You're_ the prettiest," Louis insisted.

"Not to Prince Harry, apparently," Zayn said with a grin.

Louis sat back down on the sofa, trying to wrap his mind around what just happened.

"Is it wrong that this might be the single greatest moment of my life to date?" Louis asked softly, eyes still wide with shock, making Zayn dissolve into further peals of laughter.

"That's a little sad, mate, I'm not gonna lie. Hey, you should tweet him! Tell him that he's your favorite royal or the fittest royal or something."

"I can't do that," Louis scoffed. "Besides, he has like 20 million followers. He'd never see it even if I did."

"All the more reason to do it then," Zayn reasoned. "You can't embarrass yourself that way."

Louis chucked a pillow at his head, but sighed and pulled out his phone anyway, worrying his lip between his teeth as he tried to think of something causal, yet flirtatious to say. He struggled because he didn't want something _too_ casual; he also wanted to convey exactly how appreciative he was of what the Prince had done, and how much he supported him, regardless of the fact that he was also obscenely attractive.

"Want me to write it for you?" Zayn teased after a minute.

"You're not funny," Louis pouted. After a couple of attempts, he finally settled on something he was comfortable with and pressed send.

 **Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles is my hero at the moment. Bravery. Much love and support going to him right now. And I love his stupid hair ;)

Louis didn't expect to ever hear a response, so when his phone vibrated a couple of minutes later, he was more than surprised at what he saw.

 **Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson Thanks, mate! That really means so much. And you might be in the minority on the hair, just saying...

"Zayn!" Louis practically shrieked. "He wrote back!"

"Shut up," Zayn said in disbelief, pulling out his own phone to double check. "Holy shit!"

"What do I do?"

"Respond to him, idiot," Zayn said affectionately.

"What do I say?"

"Tell him he's the fittest royal!"

"I can't do that!" Louis exclaimed with a groan. "Management would delete it in a second."

"Something flirty, then."

"This is stupid," Louis grumbled. "I'll probably never speak to him again after this."

He was quiet for a moment before hastily typing out a response and pressing submit before he had time to change his mind.

 **Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles Nonsense ! Who can resist a boy with curls? I tried to curl my hair once, but it didn't end well. Best leave the curls to you.

This time, Louis only had to wait a moment before Harry's response popped up.

 **Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson haircut bravery

Louis barked out a laugh when he read the response before quickly replying.

 **Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles cheeky x

He figured that the conversation had ended after that, so he sent out another tweet to all of his followers.

 **Louis Tomlinson**  
Prince Harry just replied to my tweet !! Completely made my day

He couldn't help the grin on his face when he checked Harry's twitter later that night before going to sleep.

 **Harry Styles**  
Louis Tomlinson just tweeted me! Life = made.

 


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the response to the first chapter! I've already written a few chapters, so I figured I'd post this one now and then post a new chapter weekly to give myself enough time to keep writing new ones!
> 
> As always, comments and criticisms are appreciated :)

When Harry woke up the next morning, his entire life had changed. He lay in bed for as long as he could possibly pretend to be asleep just going over the events of the last 24 hours.

The entire world knew his secret.

That was a heavy thought.

For the most part, the reaction to his coming out had been fairly positive. There were certainly people who had been quite vocal in their hatred for him, for his family, for the institution, but widely people seemed to accept it. Of course, as so many newspapers had pointed out, Harry is _only_ the second born. The spare. It’s not like he’d ever really be king one day, so what’s it to the rest of the world what he does with his personal life?

That kind of hurt, possibly even more so than the people calling him an abomination.

Gemma came into his room around midday. Harry was still in bed, still frozen in time, not ready to get up and face the morning yet. She took one look at him and climbed into bed with him.

“What are you still doing in bed, lazy bones?” Gemma teased.

“Just pretending the rest of the world doesn’t exist for a while,” Harry said softly.

“You had quite a day yesterday, huh?”

“Little bit,” Harry responded with an eye roll.

“I mean, I would’ve had a big day too if Louis Tomlinson of all people tweeted me,” she teased, bringing out a smile in her younger brother.

“Jesus, did I really admit to finding him attractive on television?” Harry groaned. “Please tell me that was some sort of fever dream.”

“Nope, that was all you, pal. Fortunately for you, he didn’t seem to mind too much. Dare I say he was even flirting a bit?”

“It was twitter, he was just being nice,” Harry insisted.

“Maybe,” Gemma conceded. “Or maybe he thinks you’re dreamy,” she teased.

“I don’t even think he’s gay?” Harry said with a laugh. “Besides, I don’t have that kind of luck. The only people who think I’m fit are 40 year old mums. I’m so awkward looking! You know what people say I look like? A baby giraffe! That’s like the antithesis of sexy.”

“Oh, stop feeling so sorry for yourself,” Gemma said, swatting him on the shoulder. “There are thousands of screaming girls everywhere you go, and I’m sure there will be just as many screaming boys in the near future. You’ve just done something amazing so I don’t want to see you moping about it, okay? It’s already done and you can’t take it back, so all you can do is move forward, yeah?”

“I don’t want to take it back,” Harry said honestly. “I’m glad I did it.”

“I know you are,” Gemma said softly.

“I just…I wish I could just skip ahead six months when this has all blown over,” Harry admitted. “It’s a lot to think about…a lot to deal with.”

“Just remember you’re not alone in it, yeah? We’re all right here with you.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, giving his sister a small smile.

“Always,” she promised, before patting his stomach and saying, “alright, now time to get up and face the music. And please brush your teeth, you smell like something crawled into your mouth and died.”

“You’re not funny!” Harry called after her, but she was already walking out of his room.

Harry lay there for a moment longer before acknowledging his sister’s point. He couldn’t hide forever. And his mouth did feel a little funky.

When he went to see his mother later that day, Harry was in slightly better spirits. He knew that no matter what he said or did, there were always going to be people who didn’t like him. There were always going to be people who criticized absolutely everything about him. He _knew_ that. It was just that he was still nineteen…still learning how to cope with both the adoration and hatred that comes with being a member of the royal family. He liked to pretend that he didn’t pay attention to nasty comments and bad press, but the truth was that it still stung a little to see. He didn’t put too much stock into it, because those people didn’t know him, not the real him at least, but he didn’t think that he would ever be able to be the kind of person who truly didn’t care what other people thought of him. Because when it came down to it, all Harry wanted was to be liked.

“Hello, darling,” Anne said, rising from her seat at her desk to give him a big hug. “How are you today?”

“I’m alright,” Harry said honestly. “Kind of feels like my entire life has changed, but I guess it has, so…”

“You were wonderful yesterday,” Anne said proudly. “I know it was a lot to throw at you, but you handled all of your interviews beautifully. I couldn’t be more proud of you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, mum,” Harry said, grinning at the praise.

“Now, I know this is probably the last thing that you want to do, but there are some things that we have to go over,” Anne said, bringing Harry to the sofa to sit down.

“Might as well get it over with,” Harry sighed. “Go on, then.”

“We’ve been receiving a lot of questions about whether or not you’ll be involved in any LBGT charities or organizations. Have you given that any thought?” Anne asked.

“Only a little,” Harry admitted. “I mean, I suppose I’ll have to, won’t I? It would look bad if I didn’t?” Harry responded, more question than answer.

“It’s up to you,” Anne said firmly. “Just because you came out doesn’t mean you suddenly have to become the LGBT poster child. I just wanted to give you the opportunity to voice your opinion if you’d already been thinking about it.”

“To be honest I just kind of want to go to uni and live normally for a while and figure things out from there. I don’t know if I can commit myself to any charity or organization yet,” Harry said slowly, as if he were choosing his words carefully. Anne fixed him with a smile.

“I think that’s a wise decision, darling. You’ll start university next year, and there’s no reason to rush anything or make any hasty decisions.”

“Thanks, mum,” Harry said, leaning his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her arm around him, rocking him back and forth slowly, like he was still five years old and still fit on her lap.

“Love you,” Anne said softly, pressing a kiss to Harry’s temple.

“Love you too,” Harry responded.

“Now go get into trouble,” Anne teased. “I’m sure Niall has something absolutely horrific planned for the two of you.”

“I’m gonna tell him that you said that,” Harry teased, a genuine grin spreading across his face. “He’ll be gutted, he thinks you like him!”

“I’ve known that child since he was five years old. I’m sure he has no illusions about my feelings for him,” Anne said wryly.

“You love him,” Harry insisted.

“Heaven knows why, but I do,” Anne laughed. “Now go! And I don’t want to see you again until you’ve learned to stop looking so serious.”

Harry grinned at that before saying, “I’ll do my best,” and walking out the door.

He picked up his phone to call Niall, his best friend since the age of five. Niall wasn’t a member of the nobility, which was one of the things that Harry liked best about him. Niall’s parents were incredibly wealthy hoteliers from Ireland. Niall’s family split their time between Ireland and London, and as such Niall ended up being educated in London, which is how he and Harry first met.

It was the first day of primary school, and Harry was forced to bring his security detail with him to school. Harry was very nervous that other children would laugh at him because he had to bring a _grown-up_ with him to school. When he entered the classroom, a loud, blonde-headed Irish boy came bouncing up to him and poked him in the stomach a little too forcefully.

“Bang! You’re dead,” the boy said.

“But I’m not dead,” Harry said slowly, unsure of this new person.

“Well, _obviously_ ,” the boy huffed impatiently. “It’s just a game. You want to play? I can kill you again if you’d like to see how it’s done.”

“You can’t kill me, or else I’ll order my army to kill you,” Harry said haughtily.

“You don’t have an army,” the boy scoffed.

“I do!” Harry insisted. “They have to go with me wherever I go. See that man over there? He’s part of my army.”

Niall looked at the man in a suit curiously for a moment before a wide smile spread across his face.

“Sick! I’m Niall.”

“I’m Harry,” Harry said, pleased that this strange boy seemed to like him. Or at least hadn’t tried to kill him again.

“Since you have an army, you can be my friend,” Niall said simply.

“Okay,” Harry agreed.

And the rest, as they say, was history.

“You fucker!” Niall said as he picked up the phone. “You were supposed to call me ages ago!”

After fourteen years of friendship, there were very few pretenses between them.

“I’m sorry,” Harry apologized. “I slept in.”

“Sleeping in is sleeping until noon. It’s three in the afternoon,” Niall said dryly. “You’re hiding.”

“You know what my favorite part of our friendship is?” Harry asked with a sigh. “It’s how _understanding_ we are of each other’s feelings.”

“Bullshit,” Niall laughed. “Stop being such a princess and let’s go get drunk and celebrate your victory.”

“Okay,” Harry laughed.

“Okay?” Niall repeated, surprised. He thought he’d have to fight more to get Harry to agree.

“Yeah,” Harry said with a smile. “It is a victory. We should drink.”

“Hell yes we should!” Niall exclaimed. “Excellent. Okay, I’ll be over in like an hour with stupid amounts of alcohol.”

“Sounds good,” Harry laughed. “I’ll see you soon."

And _that_ was what Harry loved about their friendship. Niall knew that even though he probably could have convinced Harry to go out to a pub somewhere, Harry didn’t want the media attention or speculation that would come with him going out so soon after the big announcement. So Niall didn’t ask, or push the issue. He just brought the party to them.

Harry sat down on the sofa in his living room and turned on his television, trying to kill some time waiting for Niall. He flipped aimlessly through the channels before settling on a One Direction documentary on MTV.

He took out his phone and looked at his tweets from Louis again, grinning stupidly as he read them. He just couldn’t help it—the fact that _Louis Tomlinson_ both admitted to supporting him _and_ liking his curls _publicly_ made Harry feel like a giddy thirteen year old. 

Harry wasn’t delusional; he wasn’t under the mistaken assumption that he could ever actually _date_ someone like Louis. Louis was _cool_ , he was all sharp witticism and swagger, and Harry was, well, _Harry_. Not to mention the fact that if Louis even was gay, he certainly wasn’t publicly out, which could cause problems in and of itself. No, Harry wasn’t even going down that mental road.

The thing was, in some stupid, silly, teenage kind of way, he had always thought that he and Louis would get on well. Like, they could actually be properly good friends if they ever had the chance to meet.

So, Harry watched the documentary and pulled out his phone, contemplating whether or not he should send a tweet to Louis. He didn’t want it to be too flirty, he wasn’t trying to scare him off, but he also didn’t want it to be too platonic, _just in case._

**Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson been watching the 1D Documentary on MTV. Nice red trousers ;)

Satisfied, Harry put down his phone and waited, trying not to get his hopes up too high about receiving a response. Louis Tomlinson had like 15 million followers on twitter, Harry told himself. The chance of him noticing Harry’s one lone tweet amongst thousands was slim.

In a studio across London, Louis was having a Bad Day.

He woke up late, skipped breakfast, and had been in interviews _all day_ about the new album. He’d managed to grab a banana around lunch time but that had only filled him up for about 30 minutes before he was back to starving.

That in and of itself wasn’t so horrible, or so out of the ordinary for the band. But, _interviews_. Interviews _all day_. There was only so much one man could take, and if another human being asked him who would survive in the fucking hunger games he was going to actually break something.

They had a new album coming out in TWO WEEKS, and apparently their management had thought it best to promote the album by barely even mentioning it and instead promoting One Direction as a brand, as personalities. That kind of marketing may have worked well in the beginning when they were just trying to ride the wave as long as possible before people woke up and realized that they were actually quite shit.  But, much to Louis’ constant surprise, that never happened, and they wised up and made a fucking _quality_ album this time around, an album that he was actually _proud_ of, that they’d all worked so _hard_ on.

It was music that he _wanted_ to promote. Except, apparently that wasn’t in the marketing plan.

Their last interview of the day had just ended and Louis wanted nothing more than to go home and binge watch television for the rest of the night. Preferably while eating copious amounts of take away.

He hopped in the car that was driving him home and pulled out his phone, trying to catch up on what he’d missed while he’d been out of communication for a couple of hours. A couple of text messages, some emails, but nothing super important. He noticed a text from his sister Lottie that made him frown in confusion.

_ANOTHER tweet from Prince Harry?! Are you guys in love? :P_

Quickly, Louis pulled up Harry’s twitter on his phone, and sure enough, there it was, clear as crystal.

Prince Harry had tweeted him. Prince Harry had tweeted _him_.

A stupid grin broke out over his face as he hastily typed out another reply.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles Not fair ! I hadn’t learned how to dress myself yet. Not all of us can grow up with our own stylist getting us ready for nursery school :P

Louis’ leg bounced anxiously in the car as he waited for a response. It wasn’t long before he got one, only it wasn’t from the royal he had expected.

**Gemma Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson @Harry_Styles Ha! Harry’s had his moments, just like the rest of the world… pic.twitter.com/bruGTZ3GcV

The picture she had attached was of Harry as a child, no more than 8, dressed in the most obnoxiously teal velour tracksuit that Louis had ever seen. It was the epitome of early 2000s fashion at its worst.

Louis took a moment to freak out at the fact that PRINCESS GEMMA had actually tweeted him before composing his reply.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
@GemmaAnneStyles wow, that is um…quite…teal. What were you saying now about red trousers, @Harry_Styles ?

When he checked his phone again, Harry had replied.

**Harry Styles**  
@GemmaAnneStyles Thank you for sharing that with the world. Helpful, as always.

**Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson I shamefully rescind my former comment. Your red trousers looked lovely.

Louis laughed out loud at his comment before typing a reply of his own.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles They were quite loud, mate, let’s be honest. Not my proudest fashion moment. I’d like to think I’ve cleaned up a bit since then.

And Louis wasn’t fishing for a compliment, honestly he wasn’t. But, when he read Harry’s reply he couldn’t help but beam and feel his self-confidence skyrocket.

**Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson I think that’s a safe assumption to make x

Suddenly, Louis’ phone started ringing. He rolled his eyes when he saw it was his sister.

“We’re not in love,” he answered, cutting straight to the chase.

“Not yet, maybe,” Lottie teased. “You know the whole world can see your flirtation, right?”

“God, you are the _worst_ sister in the world. What did I do to get stuck with you?” Louis huffed.

“Just lucky, I guess,” Lottie said, and Louis could practically hear the shit eating grin in her voice.

“And it’s not a flirtation,” Louis scoffed. “It’s just twitter. Besides I’ve never even met him and I probably never will.”

“Yeah, _okay_ ,” Lottie scoffed, “have fun purposefully ignoring him next weekend at the charity gala, then.”

“What!?” Louis exclaimed. “What charity gala, what are you talking about?”

“Oh my God, do you _ever_ pay attention to your own schedule?” Lottie asked incredulously. “Louis! The Royal Children’s Charity gala that you guys have been scheduled to perform at for like _two months_. Ringing any bells?”

“That—but—Harry’s gonna be there?” Louis asked stupidly.

“Lou. It’s the _ROYAL_ Children’s Charity. Emphasis on the royal. Harry and Gemma are there every year along with Queen Anne.”

“Lottie, I swear to God if you’re fucking with me I will maim you in some sort of really gruesome and horrific way,” Louis breathed.

“Google it if you don’t believe me,” Lottie said nonchalantly. “Or better yet ask Harry yourself, since you two are in love and all.”

“Lottie!” Louis exclaimed.

“Bye, miss you!” Lottie laughed before she hung up.

Louis wasted no time before Googling the event, and sure enough there were pictures of Harry and Gemma at every single Annual Royal Children’s Charity Gala for the past ten years.

Well, that certainly changed things.

Louis bit his lip and made a quick decision, pulling out his phone and sending a DM to Harry, trying to make things slightly more private. Although his sister annoyed the hell out of him at times, she did make a good point. They were basically flirting for the entire world to see. It was only a matter of time before he’d be called in for a meeting with management about his “reckless tweeting behavior” and how harmful it was to his “image”.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
Rumour has it that we might be bumping into each other next weekend? Our band is scheduled to play at your charity gala.

Louis hit send, hoping that was the right move.

Back at Harry’s apartment at Kensington Palace, Harry was well on his way to being quite drunk. Niall hadn’t been joking when he said that he would supply them with copious amounts of alcohol.

That in and of itself wouldn’t be a problem, the problem was that _Louis Tomlinson_ kept tweeting him, and he _had_ to respond because he couldn’t just _ignore_ him. But he desperately didn’t want to sound drunk, particularly on twitter of all places. So he reread his tweets about 30 times before posting them, obsessing over the spelling of every single word.

Niall was laughing at him from where he was sat on the sofa.

“Who cares if he knows you’re drunk, mate?” Niall laughed. “It just makes you more relatable or some shit.”

“Niall, it is six o’clock. It’s too early to be drunk,” Harry said slowly. “And m’not drunk,” he insisted. “Not yet.”

“Well then you’re doing it wrong,” Niall teased. “And it doesn’t matter what time it is! We’re celebrating!”

“He DMed me!” Harry exclaimed, completely ignoring Niall’s last statement, shoving his phone in Niall’s face for his friend to read. “Shit, did you know they’re playing at the charity gala on Saturday?”

“I’d heard rumors,” Niall chuckled.

“NIALL!” Harry screeched. “Why didn’t anyone _tell_ me!”

“It’s not a secret, mate. You’ve probably been told the list of performers at least six times. Not my fault you never listen.”

“I have to reply to him,” Harry said suddenly. “What do I say?”

“Why don’t you just save us all a lot of time and trouble and tell him you think he’s sexy and you want to have his babies?” Niall suggested.

“Ugh, you suck,” Harry scoffed. “He’s just like, a really _good person_ , right? Like, he says _our band_ is playing, not like One Direction, or _my_ band. Like they’re not the biggest thing on the planet right now.”

“Should I even bother reminding you that you’ve never actually met him?” Niall asked, knowing he would be ignored.

“But I will! This weekend!” Harry exclaimed. “Shit, I need another drink. Wait! No! I have to reply. Then more drinks.”

“Oh, this should be good,” Niall laughed, knowing full well that he could hold his liquor much better than Harry.

“Okay, so I have to be casual,” Harry mused.

“Here’s a thought, why don’t you just say ‘looking forward to it’?” Niall asked dryly.

“Looking forward to it?” Harry repeated, mulling it over in his head. “Looking forward to it? Yeah, that could work. Thanks!”

**Harry Styles**  
I’ve heard similar rumours. Looking forward to it xx

Harry only had to wait a couple of minutes before he was notified of a response.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
I am too! It’s crazy, I never seem to find out where I’m to go next until just a couple of days before ! I had to find out about this from my little sister of all people! No one ever tells me anything.

Harry laughed as he read the message. He could _definitely_ relate to that.

**Harry Styles**  
Tell me about it! I’m constantly being reminded about some meeting or appearance that I’m pretty sure I never even knew about in the first place! I just go wherever they tell me to.

Harry was staring at his phone with a stupid grin on his face, too tipsy to register Niall coming up behind him and swiping his phone.

“Dear Louis, I think you’re super fit and manly and beautiful and I want to have lots of sex and babies,” Niall laughed, fingers typing furiously at Harry’s phone. Harry launched himself at his friend, wrestling around on the floor, trying to wrench the phone from Niall’s iron grasp.

“Niall, you twat!” Harry exclaimed, finally managing to wrestle the phone from his friend. When he looked at his phone, he saw that the following message had actually been sent.

**Harry Styles**  
SAfefjoifewEQWSDAWRdcdfsew

“NIALL!” Harry roared, grumpily typing away, trying to explain his previous message. Now he looked like a complete spaz. Awesome.

**Harry Styles**  
Sorry about that. My mate Niall grabbed my phone. He’s not well.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
You could always order him to be beheaded? That’s still a thing, right?

Harry barked out a genuine laugh at Louis’ response before replying.

**Harry Styles**  
Tempting. Unfortunately when he’s not completely embarrassing me, he’s usually a pretty good friend to have around.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
I have a couple of those myself :) Anyway I’m sure you’re quite busy being super important and all that, but I just wanted to say that I’m looking forward to the gala ! Maybe we’ll even get a chance to meet in person?

Harry’s heart skipped a beat as he read Louis’ latest message. Charity events like that were always filled with people and Harry never gets a chance to talk to half of the people that he wanted to, but he would move heaven and earth in order to casually bump into Louis.

“Louis wants to meet me, I think,” Harry breathed. Niall didn’t even look up from the television screen where he was engrossed in a game of FIFA.

“Course he does,” Niall scoffed.

“I think he might be flirting with me?” Harry questioned.

“Course he is,” Niall said again, matter of fact.

Harry bit his lip and typed out one final response.

**Harry Styles**  
I’ll make sure we do :) x

“Niall,” Harry whined. “This is important. I think he has a girlfriend.”

“Okay?” Niall shrugged. “Harry, I love you, but you are taking this whole thing _way_ too seriously. Maybe he does have a girlfriend, maybe she’s a beard, maybe he’s just flirting with you to be nice? I don’t know the guy at all. And I don’t mean to rain on your parade here, but neither do you,” Niall reminded him gently. “Flirting on twitter is good, it’s fun, it’s good for your self-confidence. Just don’t get a head of yourself, yeah?”

Niall was right. Harry knew Niall was right. He was about three steps ahead of himself with this whole thing, and it would only end in disappointment. He _knew_ that. But he still tried to hide the disappointment on his face at his friend’s words.

Niall sighed and paused the game, reaching an arm out and pulling Harry into a cuddle.

“Mate, you are one of the very best people I know,” Niall said sincerely. “And you deserve absolutely everything, someone who is going to love you so much he thinks the sun shines out of your arse. And I have no doubt that you’re gonna find that. I just worry about you, you know? You get so wrapped up in the idea of love that you let yourself do stupid things for guys who aren’t worth even a second glance.”

“You’re right,” Harry said, voice deep and sad. “And I don’t even know what it is, but I just…I _like_ Louis. He’s been so nice to me, so _publicly_ nice to me, and like, I’m sure he knows I said I find him attractive and he could have just said nothing, but he tweeted that he supports me. And that just…it means a lot, because that was really embarrassing to admit to on national television, and he could have reacted quite badly, but he didn’t. He was sweet about it. And it kind of feels like he set the tone for how other people are reacting, especially young people, you know?”

“I’m not saying he’s not a good guy, Harry,” Niall insisted. “I’m just saying that you should take things one step at a time. I just don’t wanna see a repeat of the Nick situation,” Niall said carefully.

“Let’s not talk about him,” Harry said quickly. “More drinks?”

“Course,” Niall scoffed, and Harry got up and brought them two more beers before picking up a video game controller to join Niall’s game.

The two boys forgot about their conversation for a while, choosing instead to just relax and have fun with each other. It wasn’t until Niall was getting ready to go home that Harry brought it back up.

“I’m gonna meet Louis at the gala,” Harry said abruptly.

“Good,” Niall said. “You should meet him; see what he’s like in person.”

“I promise I won’t do anything stupid,” Harry said solemnly. Niall’s face softened as he put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“I know you won’t,” Niall insisted. “I didn’t mean to imply that you would. Don’t listen to me, I’m drunk and haven’t been able to get a girl to come home with me in months. What do I know?” 

“You know a lot,” Harry insisted, seriously. He was drunk, and the world around him was slightly fuzzy, but he focused on the blonde-haired boy in front of him who had stood loyally by his side through everything. “Love you a lot,” Harry said solemnly 

“Love you too, you great big giraffe,” Niall laughed, pulling Harry down for one final hug. “Now go to sleep and dream of love and sex and babies,” he teased.

“Don’t need no man to make me happy,” Harry slurred with a grin.

Niall barked out a laugh, “Fucker,” he said affectionately. “Call me tomorrow.”


	3. III

Louis was nervous. Louis was  _properly_ nervous, for the first time in quite some time.

“You okay, mate?” Liam asked, noticing how pale Louis’ face looked.

“Yeah, great,” Louis insisted, brushing him off.

“He’s nervous because Prince Charming is in the audience,” Zayn teased.

“No!” Louis insisted. “It’s just…the royal family is kind of a big deal, is all. I can’t believe we’re actually performing for them.”

“That and you’re madly in love with Prince Harry?” Liam guessed.

Louis huffed and rolled his eyes, “I hate all of you.”

“Relax,” Liam insisted. “We’re gonna do great, just like we always do. You’ve got this.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Louis said, more confidently than he felt. “I’m being stupid.”

“Well that’s nothing new,” Liam teased. “But seriously, we’ll do great. And then you’ll go and charm the pants off your boy.”

“He’s not my boy,” Louis insisted, fighting the grin that came upon hearing those words.

“Not yet,” Zayn joked.

“I’ll be lucky if I even get to meet him tonight,” Louis said, trying to keep a shred of rationality amid his buzzing thoughts. “There are like a million people here and I’m sure that One Direction is not high up on their list of people they need to make conversation with.”

“You never know,” Liam said supportively. “Anything could happen, right?”

“Right,” Louis agreed, bouncing back and forth on his toes as the minutes counted down to their performance.

It turned out that Louis had no need to worry, after all. They did great.

After their performance and a couple of drinks, Louis started to loosen up and have fun. He realized that the chance for him to meet Prince Harry was so slim it practically didn’t exist, so he decided to stop worrying about it and just enjoy himself. The royal family had so many people surrounding them, taking up their time and attention that Louis didn’t dare try and join the horde.

And he was only slightly disappointed. Slightly.

Zayn and Liam kept teasing him about how attractive he thought Harry was, which was true. _Obviously_. But, his desire to meet the younger boy wasn’t based off of looks alone. He just really wanted to _talk_ to him, see what he was like. Louis couldn’t imagine the kind of pressure that Harry must be under, and he navigated the public and the media so well. And he had handled his coming out with all of the grace and humor of a much older, wiser man.

It sounded so silly and childish, but Louis just wanted to _get to know_ him. Which, obviously was not going to happen at the gala. Instead, Louis took his time to circle around the room, digesting the spectacle of the night. When he got to the far corner, he navigated his way down a deserted corridor, looking for the toilets. He found one, tucked away in a quiet hallway. It was a single bathroom, just a toilet and a sink, and it probably wasn’t meant for guests of the gala, but Louis just wanted a few moments alone to get his thoughts together.

A couple of minutes later Louis stood at the sink washing his hands. For being such a small bathroom, it was actually quite ornate, with a sink in the middle of a marble countertop that spanned the length of the entire wall. Just as Louis was contemplating whether or not the countertops were made of actual marble, the door to the bathroom suddenly swung open.

“Oops,” a familiar voice said. Louis’ head snapped up and sure enough there was Prince Harry standing in the doorway of the loo.

“Hi,” Louis said in shock, surprise written all over his face.

“Sorry, I didn’t think anyone else was in here,” Harry apologized, and suddenly Louis’ brain started working in overdrive.

“No, no, I’m sorry,” Louis apologized quickly. “I just needed a minute and this was conveniently quiet. I must have forgotten to lock the door. Oh God, this isn’t like, your private toilet or anything, is it? I’ll clear out, I’m so sorry.”

“Louis, no it’s okay,” Harry laughed, a dimpled grin spread across his face, eyes alight with amusement. Shit, he was gorgeous. “I don’t have a private toilet at charity functions,” Harry said slowly. It took Louis a minute, but a grin spread across his face as he realized that Harry was teasing him.

“Sorry, that was probably a stupid question,” Louis laughed.

“Not at all,” Harry said kindly. “It’s good to meet you, although I had expected to do it outside of the toilet,” he teased.

“It’s great to meet you too, I was hoping I’d get to see you tonight,” Louis said sincerely, before his eyes widened as a thought popped into my head. “Oh God, I was probably supposed to bow to you or something, wasn’t I? Sorry!”

“Please don’t!” Harry exclaimed with a laugh. “The only person you’re required to bow to is my mother, and she definitely will not be walking into the men’s toilet any time soon.”

“Okay,” Louis said, letting out a nervous giggle, trying not to think too much about the fact that he was standing in an empty toilet with _Prince Harry_ of all people.

“I loved your performance,” Harry complimented. “You guys really are quite talented. Gemma and I both voted for you while you were on the X Factor.”

“Seriously?” Louis breathed. “I mean, thank you! I guess I’m just surprised that you guys vote?”

“Sure,” Harry shrugged. “I was just 16 at the time, same as any other 16 year old. Watched all the same shows and everything. We might have a famous family, but we’re just normal people, really,” Harry insisted, hopping up to sit on the counter where the sink was, making himself comfortable. Louis relaxed at such a casual move.

“Sure, very normal,” Louis agreed with a teasing smile. “Normal palaces and everything.”

“Well, maybe not _completely_ normal,” Harry conceded, giving Louis a dimpled grin.

“How have you been doing?” Louis asked genuinely. “I’m sure you’ve been through a whirlwind the last couple of weeks. The lads and I have been so blown away by how well you’ve seemed to handle everything so far.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, blushing slightly at the praise. “I’ve been doing okay, I guess. It’s a lot to deal with sometimes, but I’ve been hanging in. And the response has really been overwhelming; people for the most part have been so supportive. I wanted to thank you for your tweets,” Harry said seriously. “That whole day was just… _really_ hard, and they made me smile.”

“Of course,” Louis said, eyes wide and honest. “I meant every word, what you did was very brave, Prince Harry.”

“Harry,” Harry corrected.

“Harry,” Louis repeated with a grin.

“And thank you,” Harry said sincerely. “Wish I felt braver, though,” Harry admitted softly. “Still feels like I’m just waiting for the bottom to drop and people to start calling for a public flogging.” Harry’s eyes got wide, as if he couldn’t believe he had just said that out loud and he immediately started backpedalling. “Sorry, ignore me; I don’t know what I’m saying. I get too into my own head sometimes.”

“Sounds like a normal fear to me,” Louis said wisely, pleasantly surprised at Harry’s openness. It didn’t seem like an act or an affectation, just simply a part of his personality. Louis decided to share something as well, wanting to help put Harry at ease and let him know that he was trustworthy. “I’ve been in a boyband three years now and I still haven’t gotten used to people calling me faggot as I walk down the street.”

“S’not something you should have to get used to,” Harry said sympathetically.

“It’s not,” Louis agreed with a sigh. “But it happens anyway. And that’s why you’re brave. _You_ came out.”

“It wasn’t completely by choice,” Harry said carefully.

“I saw the pictures,” Louis admitted. “It was such shit what happened to you.”

Although Louis didn’t know the whole story, what he did know was enough to make his blood boil. From what he could tell from the media reports, Harry had been at what he thought was a private Halloween party at his friend (former friend?) Nick Grimshaw’s house. The boys of One Direction had been on his radio show a couple of times in the past, but Louis had never got on with him. He was the kind of person who would do just about anything, use just about anyone, to promote and further himself and his career. He wasn’t someone who Louis trusted, at least. Unfortunately it seemed like Harry _had_ trusted him. No one knew the whole story, except that the next morning everywhere you looked there were really embarrassing pictures of Harry, drunk and dressed as Miley Cyrus, with Nick Grimshaw’s tongue down his throat. Nick had sold those pictures to every single media outlet available.

“My mate Niall says I trust too easily,” Harry admitted. “Turned out he was right.”

“That’s not a bad quality to have, necessarily,” Louis said kindly, but Harry shook his head.

“It’s something I’m working on, I guess. I just, I don’t want to live my life over-thinking every single move I make and every single person I meet. Like, will this person sell me out to the press? Does this person like me for me or for fame and money? I know it’s naïve to feel like that, but it really sucks never knowing who you can really trust, you know?” Harry shut his eyes immediately upon finishing his sentence, running a hand across his face. “And I can’t believe I’ve just gone and admitted that to you,” Harry said, mortified.

“I like your honesty,” Louis admitted, fixing the younger boy with a soft smile. “And I know you just met me, but you can trust me, I promise. I’m not the kind of person to sell anyone out to the press for any reason. And I have fame and money of my own,” Louis pointed out. “But, just to make things even, a secret for a secret. I love my band more than anything in the world. I love what we do. But we are completely, 100% puppets of our management at the moment. It’s a classic case of us being young and naïve and signing the first deal that came our way. Our contract is up in a couple of months and we’ve all agreed that we won’t resign with the same company, but sometimes I wonder if I can even make it that long without somehow fucking everything up and violating the contract. Do you know they monitor my tweets?” Louis confessed.

“What?” Harry asked, surprised.

“They do,” Louis laughed. “They use my account to tweet stupid promotions for shit I don’t even use, and use it to spoon feed my ‘image’ to the masses. They even delete any tweets that don’t completely gel with the person who they want me to be.”

“Wow,” Harry breathed. “That’s…that sucks, mate.”

“Well, you kind of sell your soul a little bit when you sign a recording contract, don’t you?” Louis said with a shrug. “We’re all just trying to make it through everything still intact, still decent people. This industry will suck you dry if you let it.”

There was a beat of silence before Harry turned to him with a mischievous grin.

“Tea or coffee?” Harry asked suddenly.

“Tea?” Louis answered, confusion showing all over his face.

“Good answer,” Harry said before continuing, “cats or dogs?”

“Erm, cats I suppose.”

“I’m a cat guy as well,” Harry responded. “Books or movies?”

“Movies,” Louis replied. “Sorry, is this an interview?” he joked, completely lost.

“Well, neither of us are exactly the same as our image would suggest,” Harry said logically. “So I’m just trying to get to know the real you.”

Louis paused for a moment before a broad smile spread across his face and he hopped up onto the counter on the other side of the sink, joining in the game.

“Music or lyrics?” Louis asked.

“Ooh,” Harry said with a grin. “Music. No, lyrics. Ah! Both!” Harry exclaimed with a laugh. “Rain or snow?”

“Rain. Call or text?”

“Text. Eyes or smile?”

“Smile,” Louis said with a grin, trying not to focus too obviously on Harry’s dimpled one right in front of him. “Pizza or pasta?”

“Pasta. One good friend or lots of casual friends?”

“One good friend. London or Paris?”

And so it continued. Louis and Harry sat there cross-legged and facing each other on the counter of the sink in the loo, asking each other the most random questions that they could think of, laughing and teasing as they went along. It wasn’t until Louis’ phone rang that he had even remembered that they were at an event and had appearances to make.

Louis pulled out his phone and looked at it, ignoring the call from Zayn. His eyes widened when he realized how long they’d disappeared for.

“Shit, we should get back out there,” Louis said reluctantly. “We’ve been in here for over an hour, they’ll send MI5 looking for us soon and then I’ll be accused of kidnapping,” he teased.

“Oops,” Harry replied, clearly just as surprised about the time as Louis was. “And it’s not kidnapping if I’m a willing participant,” Harry joked. “Who says I wasn’t the one kidnapping you? I did corner you in the toilet.”

“Good point!” Louis exclaimed, grinning as he hopped off of the counter. “Are you stalking me, Harold?” Louis asked flirtatiously, enjoying the way Harry tried to hide his smile.

“I might be,” Harry teased. “To be honest, I’m surprised no one has come banging down the door looking for you yet. I should imagine that your girlfriend is quite bored all alone out there.”

“Girlfriend?” Louis asked, looking confused for a moment before his eyes widened in comprehension. He came to the gala alone, but Harry had clearly done some prior research on him. Of all the things in Louis’ life, the Eleanor situation was one of the last things he wanted Harry to know about. How was he to even begin trying to explain that? “Who, Eleanor? She’s not…” Louis trailed off, deflating a bit. When he looked back up at Harry, his eyes were sad. “There are worse things than either in or out,” Louis said softly. “I told you I’m just a puppet.”

Louis let his eyes fall to the floor, face hot and ashamed. Who was he to be standing here with the Prince of bloody England who had just come out to the entire world when Louis was walking around with a fake fucking girlfriend because management had shoved him so far in the closet that he was practically in Narnia?

But then Harry’s arms were around him, wrapping him in a tight hug. Louis froze for a moment in surprise before returning the hug gratefully. Harry was a little taller than Louis, but then again so was almost everyone, and he smelled absolutely _heavenly_. Louis’ head fit perfectly in the crook of Harry’s neck, and he closed his eyes for just a moment, letting his forehead rest against the younger boy’s curls.

“I’m really glad I met you, Louis Tomlinson,” Harry said sincerely, and Louis could feel the reverberations of Harry’s deep voice in his chest. Louis broke the hug with a genuine smile.

“I’m really glad I met you too, Your Royal Highness,” he teased, complete with a small bow. Harry giggled and shoved Louis’ shoulder playfully.

“You tit,” Harry laughed before pulling out his phone and handing it to Louis. “Put your number in?” Harry requested.

Louis entered in his information, scarcely believing that this was actually his life. Nothing that happened over the last hour seemed remotely real. Louis handed Harry’s phone back and watched as he typed away at it, jumping when his own phone rang in his pocket, signaling a text message.

“There, now you have mine too,” Harry grinned.

“Good,” Louis said, not sure what else to say. Because Harry wasn’t just everything that Louis had expected. He was _more_. He was witty, and kind, and silly, and so, _so_ gorgeous, and now his phone number was in Louis’ contact list. How was this real life?

“Enjoy the rest of your night,” Harry said easily, moving to open the door to the hallway.

“Wait,” Louis said, confused, the past hour suddenly catching up to him. “Didn’t you have to use the toilet?”

“Not really,” Harry shrugged, dimpled grin overtaking his face. “Maybe I was looking for a place to hide, too. Or maybe I was just stalking you.”

“You’re a menace!” Louis laughed delightedly.

“Shh!” Harry said, putting his finger to his lips as they walked out of the bathroom. “Don’t let that get around. I have a reputation to maintain.”

Louis rolled his eyes exaggeratedly and watched as Harry walked away laughing. Louis stayed in the hallway for a moment longer, taking a minute to absorb what had just happened. His phone started ringing again, and he pulled it from his pocket, seeing that it was Zayn still trying to reach him.

“Zayn!” Louis exclaimed, answering his phone.

“Louis, where did you go? We’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

“Mate, you will _never_ believe it.”

**X**

The following day, Harry was on cloud nine. Not only had he met Louis Tomlinson, he’d had an hour long _private_ conversation with him! _And_ he’d gotten his number!

Louis was everything that Harry had hoped he’d be and more. He was _so_ _kind_ , and _funny_ , and _gorgeous_ , and Harry was prepared to admit that he had the _biggest_ crush on the older boy. That being said, he was trying to take Niall’s advice and take things slowly.

Trying, being the operative word.

Harry waited 24 hours before texting Louis, figuring that a solid day was enough time to make it seem like he wasn’t too terribly desperate. Probably.

_What do world famous pop stars do on their days off?_

Harry waited a couple of minutes for a response, trying not to be too eager. When his phone vibrated, he grabbed it quickly, happy that neither Niall nor Gemma were around to mock him.

_We get days off? I need to renegotiate my contract !_

Harry laughed at the response, preparing to reply when his phone buzzed again.

_Probably the same thing world famous monarchs do on their days off, I’d imagine. Watch a lot of crap telly and eat stupid amounts of take away._

Harry thought about his response for a minute before typing out a reply.

_That does sound eerily similar. Got any plans today? I’m dying to get out of my house and rejoin the world._

_It just so happens that you have actually caught me on a day off. I suppose I can drag my arse off of the couch for you. What do you have in mind?_

Harry beamed at Louis’ quick reply.

_Shopping?_ Harry replied.

_You’re such a girl, curly! I should have expected this. Where/when?_

Harry giggled, butterflies fluttering in his stomach at the nickname. He’d never really had any nicknames growing up. One of the downsides to being a Prince is that children rarely teased you, affectionately or otherwise. Harry was quite pleased that Louis felt comfortable enough with him already to start using nicknames.

_It will be fun, I promise! I’ll come get you, where do you live?_

Once Louis had texted Harry his address, Harry was out the door.

Harry pulled up to Louis’ house, parking the car and getting out. He’d thought about just texting Louis and letting him know that he was outside, but he was curious to see where the older boy lived. He knocked on Louis’ door, and Louis opened it a few seconds later with a bright smile.

“Hi!” Louis exclaimed. “You didn’t have to get out of the car, it’s freezing! Here, come inside while I get my coat.”

“Erm, could James take a look around first? I’m really sorry,” Harry apologized quickly, suddenly feeling really embarrassed. “It’s just protocol.”

“Sure,” Louis said easily. “Who’s James?”

“My security guy,” Harry said, moving out of the way as Jim walked through the front door, making a quick sweep of the house before nodding to Harry that it was clear to enter. “I’m really sorry,” Harry apologized again. “He has to do it every new place I go.”

“No, it’s fine,” Louis waved him off, bringing Harry inside and closing the door. “He won’t find anything interesting here. I’ve barely even any food.”

“Do you cook at all?” Harry laughed.

“Not even a little bit,” Louis chuckled. “Don’t tell me, you have some kind of lavish personal chef who makes caviar for breakfast, right?” he teased.

“Ew, no!” Harry laughed wrinkling his nose. “First off, caviar is gross. I don’t care what anyone says, I will never eat it. Second, I cook all of my own meals by myself, thank you very much.”

“Well, aren’t you full of surprises?” Louis teased, grinning at Harry as he pulled his coat out of the front closet.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Harry laughed, following Louis out the front door.

When they were all situated in the car, Louis turned to Harry.

“So, does your security detail go everywhere with you?” Louis asked curiously.

“Everywhere,” Harry said seriously. “Whether I like it or not,” he teased, and James cracked a smile from the back seat.

“James, what’s it like to have to take care of such a troublesome thing as our Harold here?” Louis teased.

“I love my job, sir,” James answered seriously. “It’s what I’m trained to do.”

“Good answer,” Harry teased. “I’ll keep you around for a little longer, yet.”

“So, what’s the master plan, Harold?” Louis asked. “What sort of delightful garments have you planned for us to purchase today?”

“Fuck off,” Harry laughed. “We’re going thrifting.”

“Thrifting?” Louis asked , surprised, before a grin spread across his face. “Figures a hipster prince like you would get his clothing from a thrift store.”

“Hey!” Harry laughed. “I did not invite you out just so you could abuse me! You’re starting off this friendship very poorly, I have to say.”

“I just call them like I see them,” Louis teased. “Does Parliament know that you’re a hipster? Isn’t there some sort of legislation forbidding hipster royalty?”

“He who wears red trousers shouldn’t throw stones,” Harry said sagely, making Louis dissolve into laughter.

“Touché, Your Royal Hipster,” Louis said with a grin, making Harry roll his eyes.

“Jesus, I should have known what a mistake this would be,” Harry groaned, one hand holding the steering wheel as the other worked to plug in his phone to the stereo. A minute later One Directon’s second album came blasting through the car. “There we go, that should shut you up,” Harry teased.

“You own our album?” Louis asked delightedly.

“I do,” Harry nodded solemnly. “I’m looking forward to your next one as well.”

“Do you…” Louis started to ask something, but hesitated.

“Do I what?” Harry asked, turning the volume down and glancing over at his friend.

“Do you want to hear it?” Louis asked, and Harry could hear the tiny bit of uncertainty in his voice.

“Of course!” Harry exclaimed, grinning broadly. “Do you have it with you?”

“Yeah, it’s on my phone,” Louis said, visibly relaxing at Harry’s genuinely excited reaction. Louis switched out the phones attached to the stereo and then music filled the car once again.

“Lou!” Harry exclaimed after a couple of songs. “This is _really_ good. This is a really fucking solid album, you should be so proud!”

“Thanks, mate,” Louis said with a pleased grin. “We’re all really happy with the way it turned out. We’ve been trying to be more involved in the songwriting process, and I think we really pulled it off with this one.”

“You wrote these songs?” Harry asked curiously.

“Well, not just me. But yeah, I helped out with about twelve of them, I think.”

“That’s amazing!” Harry exclaimed. “These songs are really, really good, Lou.”

“Thank you,” Louis said sincerely. “It’s really nice to hear someone say that besides me mum.”

“This is gonna be huge, I can tell,” Harry said confidently.

“I hope so,” Louis said sincerely. “To be honest, we’re all a little nervous and frustrated with the way management has been promoting it.”

“How so?” Harry asked curiously.

“They’re just still so focused on us as a brand rather than a band, you know? Our promotional interviews are all about us just goofing off and talking about the kinds of girls we like. We barely get asked about the music, which kind of sucks really, because I’m _so_ proud of this album. We’ve worked so hard and it’s so much more mature than our other albums and I’d really like a chance to be able to actually talk about it,” Louis sighed. “Just one of many reasons why I can’t wait to get rid of them, I suppose.”

“That sounds really frustrating,” Harry said sympathetically. “I can tell how hard you guys worked on this album. I’m not kidding when I say it’s really great.” Suddenly an idea popped into Harry’s head. “Hey, could I tweet about it?”

“If you’d like,” Louis replied, confusion evident in his voice.

“I just figure that like, if I tweet about it and say something about how much more mature the album sounds and how proud you are of it, then at least people will see it and know, you know? I don’t have to,” Harry backpedalled quickly.

“No,” Louis cut him off with a smile. “That would be great, thanks.”

“I’ll be the envy of millions of screaming girls everywhere, getting to listen to this album before it’s released,” Harry teased.

“Please, if screaming girls are envying anyone right now it’s me,” Louis joked. “I’m in a car with a crazy hipster prince on a shopping adventure. This is the stuff that dreams are made of.”

“I hate you,” Harry laughed.

“No you don’t,” Louis teased.

And yeah, he was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	4. IV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for such a lovely response to this fic!! It's been a lot of fun for me to write so far, this chapter alone was over 7,000 words and it looks like the next chapter might be even longer than that! I'm loving being able to lose myself in this AU :)

Louis was surprised at how well he and Harry had clicked. From the jump, it had seemed as though they had known each other their entire lives. Louis thought that it would be a bigger transition, learning to think of Harry as _Harry,_ not _Prince Harry_ , but he was surprised to find that there were a couple of times where he actually had to _remind_ himself that Harry was a prince. Even though he travelled everywhere with a body guard and when he would say ‘wanna go back to mine?’ he meant _Kensington Palace_ , Harry was so delightfully normal.

In some ways, Harry was just as Louis had expected him to be—kind, witty, handsome; and in other ways he was a complete and total surprise. Harry hadn’t been kidding when he said that he cooked all of his own meals, for instance. Louis was hanging out at Harry’s apartment one evening and Harry had whipped them up a plate of fajitas. And it was _good_. Harry also wasn’t just kind with the people around him and in his inner circle, he was kind to _everyone_ , even the fans who would follow him around the city or scream in his face when they got to meet him. He was even kind to the people who weren’t so kind to him.

Louis would have thought Harry was a fucking saint, if he didn’t know any better.

That’s the thing, though—Louis _did_ know better. One of the most fascinating parts of their friendship was how open they’d been with each other since day one. He’d seen Harry’s bad side right along with his good—the times when Harry became a pouting, petulant child, for instance, which were the rare times that Louis could see his privileged upbringing shining through.

Louis’ friendship with Harry was one of the few friendships that he’d had with _anyone_ , famous or not, where he felt that he could be truly and completely himself.

It was amazing to think that they had become so close, so quickly. It had only been a few short weeks since their first meeting at the gala, but Harry had entrenched himself so deeply into Louis’ heart, and Louis had no intention of letting that go.

So, if Louis happened to have a teeny, tiny, minor crush on his new friend, he was determined to ignore it. Friendships like theirs didn’t come around very often, and Louis certainly had no intention of ruining it with something so messy as a relationship. In his experience, those didn’t usually end in his favor.

That didn’t stop his heart from hammering every time he received a new text, tweet, or phone call from Harry, though.

He had just arrived at his mum’s house on his birthday when he walked in to a room full of chatter that went silent immediately upon his entry.

“I have to say I was expecting a better greeting,” Louis joked, confused at his family’s behavior.

“Louis Tomlinson!” his mother screamed, marching over to him and smacking his shoulder.

“Ow!” Louis exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder exaggeratedly. “What was that for?!”

“I was at Tesco today buying the ingredients for _your_ birthday dinner, when who should I run into but Karen Banks? And do you know what Karen Banks asked me?” Jay asked furiously.

“Who?” Louis asked, completely bewildered.

“She asked me what Prince Harry was like in real life. _Prince Harry!_ I was baffled, of course, as to why she should think that _I_ would know anything about him, and can you guess what she told me? She told me that you, _my son_ , have been spending lots of time with him recently! Naturally once I got home I Googled you and sure enough, there you were, out on a shopping trip with _Prince Harry!_ Now tell me, why is it that I had to find out from Karen bloody Banks that my son is friends with _royalty_?! A mother would think that this is something her only son would mention to her during one of the twenty or so times they’ve spoken over the phone in the last few weeks,” Jay said, laying on the guilt like only a mother could. Louis had enough sense to look contrite. It wasn’t that he _purposefully_ hadn’t told her, it just hadn’t come up and he didn’t really know how to casually mention that he’d been hanging out with a prince without making it seem like a really big deal.

“I’m sorry,” Louis apologized, trying to find an explanation that would suit his mother. “I just…well, I didn’t really know how to explain it, I guess? How do you tell your mum that your new best friend just so happens to be the Prince of England? I was going to tell you, it just seemed like something that would be better done in person.”

“Best friend?” Jay asked, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Yeah,” Louis said, shrugging his shoulders, a blush rising on his cheeks. “We just immediately got on. It’s weird, but I kinda feel like I’ve known him my whole life?”

Jay’s eyes softened at that before she fixed her son with a serious look.

“I’m going to ask you a question, and don’t you dare lie to me about this. Are you sure that you two are _just_ friends? I can handle hearing a lot of things about you in the supermarket, but finding out that my son is dating Prince Harry is not something I would like to hear secondhand.”

“We’re not dating,” Louis said with an affectionate eye roll. “I’m sure there are people who probably think that we are, but trust me, _that_ is something I would tell you.”

“Good,” Jay said with a nod, before pulling him in for a hug. “Happy birthday, sweetheart.”

“That’s more like it,” Louis joked. “I wasn’t expecting to walk into the birthday inquisition.”

One Jay had finished yelling at Louis, his sisters took that as their cue to gather around him, chattering excitedly about everything that they had to catch him up on. It was madness, and he could barely keep their stories straight, but it was home.

He was just sitting down on the couch with the twins on either side when Lottie swung her phone in front of his face tauntingly.

“Your boyfriend sent you a happy birthday tweet,” she teased.

“He did?” Louis asked, ears perking up. “And shut up,” he said childishly.

“Read it for yourself,” Lottie said, tossing her mobile at her brother.

**Harry Styles**  
Happy birthday to @Louis_Tomlinson!! Can’t wait to celebrate when you’re back in London xx

Louis grinned at the message and handed his sister back her phone.

“That was nice of him,” Louis said casually, and Lottie rolled her eyes.

“You’re such an idiot,” she scoffed, throwing a pillow at him. Louis caught it before it had a chance to hit him, and fixed his sister with a shit eating grin.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he sing-songed, leaping off of the couch and launching a full-fledged pillow attack on his sister, getting the twins involved when they launched themselves at him in a valiant attempt to save their sister.

Jay and Fizzy walked into the room to see what all the commotion was about, laughing when they found Louis, Lottie, Phoebe, and Daisy in a pile on the floor.

“Do you bring chaos and destruction with you _everywhere_ you go, or are we just lucky?” Jay asked Louis teasingly.

“So much hatred on my birthday,” Louis joked, standing up and sitting back down on the couch.

“So dramatic,” Fizzy laughed, moving to sit next to her brother.

“You’re next,” he warned, pulling his phone from his pocket when it vibrated with a text message.

When he looked at his phone, he saw that he’d missed a couple of texts already from friends wishing him a happy birthday. He scrolled through them with a fond grin.

**Zayn**  
 _Happy birthday, mate!! Xxxxxxxxxx_

**Liam**  
 _Happy birthdayyyyy Tommo!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

**Stan**  
 _Happy birthday!! U in town?_

Louis’ grin widened, however, when he saw that the most recent message was from Harry.

**Harry**  
 _Happy birthday to youuuuu! xxx_

“What’s he like?” Lottie asked, and Louis looked up from his phone.

“Who?” he asked.

“Prince Harry,” she clarified. “Don’t even pretend like that text wasn’t from him, I can see your stupid grin from over here.”

“Prince Harry is lovely, unlike you,” Louis stated, pulling a face at his nosey sister. “And he has a sister who loves him very much, unlike me, who has sisters who don’t know how to mind their own business.”

“Have you met Princess Gemma?” Fizzy asked excitedly.

“I haven’t, unfortunately,” Louis replied. “But I have been to Harry’s apartment inside Kensington Palace.”

“You’ve been to Kensington Palace?!” Phoebe exclaimed, awestruck.

“Can I go?” Daisy asked earnestly.

“I’ll tell you all about it if you give me just one sec to send a text,” Louis said, itching to reply to Harry.

_Thank you!!! I’m happy to be home with my family, but it’s complete madness here. They’re quite interested in you, actually. My sisters won’t leave me alone about you. Apparently it isn’t every day that a Tomlinson befriends a prince?_

“Okay, there,” Louis said, putting his phone down. “What is it that you want to know?”

“Is Prince Harry as gorgeous in person as he is in pictures?” Lottie asked first.

“It should be illegal, how gorgeous he is,” Louis answered honestly, earning giggles from his family.

“How did you meet him?” Jay asked next.

“We met at the Royal Children’s Charity Gala. He’s really nice and easy to talk to and we just hit it off. It’s like we’ve been friends for ages.”

“What’s Kensington Palace like?” Daisy asked eagerly.

“Big,” Louis replied with a laugh. “It was very, very surreal being there, but that’s where Harry lives. It’s divided up into apartments for members of the royal family, so he has his own apartment that he lives in. It’s not like he spends his time walking around the State Rooms or anything, so that makes it a little more normal. But still…weird.”

“Is he as nice as he seems on television?” Fizzy asked.

“He’s very nice,” Louis said with a smile. “Easily one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met.”

“Has he picked a university, yet?” Jay asked.

“I don’t think so?” Louis said, more question than answer. “My money is on Cambridge, though.”

“So he’s smart, then?” Lottie asked.

“Very smart,” Louis agreed. “I think he’ll hate Cambridge, but I think that’s where he’ll go.”

“Why?” Jay asked, an amused smile playing at her face.

“Harry was made for London,” Louis answered simply. “I think he’ll miss it terribly, and I don’t know how interested he is in Cambridge as a school; I think _he_ thinks that it’s where everyone expects him to go.”

“Well that’s a silly reason to choose a school,” Lottie said reasonably.

“It is, but that’s Harry. I think he’s still learning how to say no to people,” Louis said wisely. “If he really wanted to go to Cambridge, his gap year wouldn’t have turned into two years. I think he’s putting off the decision for as long as he can, honestly.”

Louis’ phone vibrated on the table, and he grabbed it before one of his sisters could get to it.

**Harry**  
 _Hahaha tell them I’m very boring! It’s your day, make them talk about something more interesting!_

While Louis was reading the message, a second message came through.

**Harry**  
 _Sounds like a party, though! I know how happy you are to be spending time with your family :)_

“Harry says he’s boring and that I’m much more interesting so you should be paying more attention to me on my birthday,” Louis said petulantly.

“He did not say that!” Lottie giggled.

“Did so,” Louis said, shoving his phone in her face triumphantly.

Lottie’s face went through a quick succession of emotions while reading Harry’s texts, and at the end of it she threw herself into Louis’ side, hugging him tightly.

“You’re such an idiot,” she said, but Louis recognized her words for what they were.

“Love you too,” he said happily.

As insistent as Harry was that he wasn’t all that interesting, Louis’ family asked endless questions about him. Of course, it didn’t help that Louis was on his phone every five minutes texting Harry either.

It was while they were eating Louis’ birthday dinner that he got an idea.

“Can I meet Prince Harry?” Daisy asked.

“Can I meet Princess Gemma?” Phoebe echoed earnestly.

“I’ve never met Princess Gemma myself, Phoebes, so I can’t promise you anything there, but if you guys are really really good you might be able to talk to Harry over the phone,” Louis said, the idea already formulating in his mind.

“Really!” Daisy exclaimed, face lighting up at the idea.

“I can’t promise for certain, I don’t know what his schedule is like over the holidays. I know he’s with his family at Sandringham for Christmas, and he’ll probably be back in London for New Year’s, but I think I could probably catch him on the phone at some point while I’m here,” Louis said.

“You’re not going back to London for New Year’s?” Jay asked, surprised. In the three years since he’d left, Louis had never stayed in Doncaster for more than a couple of days.

“Probably not, no,” Louis responded with a shrug. “We just finished a world tour, Mum. I just want to be home for awhile. Get some rest, _finally_.”

“We just finished a world tour,” Fizzy repeated with a snort of laughter. “This family is so abnormal.”

Louis leaned back in his chair laughing, hand on his belly which was pleasantly full from a delightfully home cooked meal. Time with his family was _exactly_ what he needed.

Later that night while lying in bed, Louis shot off a quick text to Harry.

_Daisy said she wants to meet you._

He didn’t have to wait long for a response.

**Harry**  
 _Tell her I’d love to meet her!_

Louis smiled, the response was so typically Harry—good-natured agreement without any questions.

_All the girls would, really. They still find it hard to believe we’re friends! Oh, and Phoebe thinks that Gemma is the perfect princess and worships the ground that she walks on._

**Harry**  
 _Awww that’s so sweet! I can’t tell Gemma that, though, she’ll get a big head._

Louis shifted and rolled onto his back before typing out his response.

_Well we certainly can’t have that! My own sisters grow cheekier by the day. Lottie tried to pummel me with a pillow earlier! Kids these days have no respect._

**Harry**  
 _It’s terrible, really. How was your birthday???_

Louis grinned, a warm feeling of happiness spreading through his chest.

_It was great! Mum made a nice home cooked dinner and everything. It’s always madness here with the four girls (and two more on the way!), but it’s home. And I don’t get to see my family nearly enough, so I’m happy to take advantage of it when I can._

**Harry**  
 _I love how much you love your family._

Louis’ chest tightened at Harry’s response. It was so sweet and genuine, and Louis couldn’t believe his luck that he was able to be friends with this boy.

_That I do. Speaking of, if I asked for a tiny birthday present would it be completely out of line?_

**Harry**  
 _Not at all! Whatever you want :)_

Louis scoffed at the message.

_You don’t even know what it is yet! I could ask for something crazy like a yacht._

**Harry**  
 _No, but I know you._

It was crazy, how true that was. Such a simple statement, packed with so much meaning. They’d only been friends for a little over a month, and already it felt like they knew the innermost workings of each other.

_You’re lucky you do! Anyone else would take advantage of such generosity :P I was wondering if you’d have any time to talk to my sisters over the next week? It wouldn’t take more than five minutes, just a quick phone call, happy holidays, that sort of thing. It would completely make their Christmas._

Louis couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous asking. He knew Harry would do it if he asked, but he also didn’t want to come across as one of those people who used his connections for personal gains.

**Harry**  
 _Absolutely! I’d love to talk to them!! I could call tomorrow if you’ve got time? Give them a proper Christmas greeting?_

Louis looked at his phone, biting his lip before responding.

_Tomorrow’s Christmas, Haz! Don’t you have important family stuff to do? This can wait, obviously._

**Harry**  
 _Christmas Eve is the bigger day for us, actually. We don’t really do much on Christmas until dinner, just hang around. We all watch mum’s speech together, but that’s my only real obligation._

Louis smiled sleepily; he knew that there was no talking Harry out of this once the idea had popped into his head.

_If you’re sure, then we absolutely have time. Morning would be best, all the extended family come over in the afternoon and that would be pure chaos._

**Harry**  
 _Your Christmases sound a lot more exciting than mine! Jealous._

Louis snorted out a laugh. Jealous?!

_Do I even need to point out that your Christmases take place in a palace with lots of very important people? My Christmases consist of way too many people squeezed into our dining room, and last year Daisy elbowed me in the eye reaching for a dinner roll._

**Harry**  
 _Still sounds like funnnn. How does 10 work for you guys tomorrow morning?_

Louis sighed happily and snuggled into his pillow before typing out a response.

_Sounds perfect :) Thanks so much for doing this, you’re a fucking saint xxxx_

**Harry**  
 _You know better than that. Happy birthday, lou xxx_

Louis groaned and pressed his face into his pillow. Harry was so perfect, and he was so, _so_ screwed.

The next morning, Louis was woken up entirely too early by two very excited 8 year olds. Nevertheless, he was careful to enjoy his time sitting around the tree with his family opening presents. The atmosphere was relaxed and happy, and Louis took his time soaking it all in. Once it got closer to 10, though, he found himself fidgeting, hoping both that the girls would appreciate the chance to talk to Harry, and that they wouldn’t say anything too horrifically embarrassing or incriminating.

Sure enough, at 10:00 on the dot, his mobile began ringing. He fished it out of his pocket with a grin.

“Louis!” Jay exclaimed. “No phone calls on Christmas!”

“But it’s not for me!” Louis explained, answering his phone with a grin.

“Happy Christmas!” Louis said brightly.

“Happy Christmas!” Harry exclaimed just as happily. “How has your morning been?”

“It’s been really great. Lots of tea, lots of presents, very few complaints on my end. How about you?”

“Gemma woke me up stupidly early, but I got a full English out of it, so I can’t complain either. Are you with the girls?” Harry asked.

“I am,” Louis grinned. “Hold on one sec, I’m gonna put you on speaker in a minute.” Louis looked at his family with a bright smile, motioning Daisy to come over and sit in his lap. “I have a special Christmas greeting for you girls,” Louis said cryptically, switching the phone to speaker. “Okay Hazza, you’re on!”

“Hi, this is Harry!” Harry’s voice echoed brightly from the phone. “I wanted to wish you all a Happy Christmas!”

There was stunned silence in the room for a minute, and Lottie was the first to recover.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed. “Happy Christmas to you as well!”

“Is that _Prince_ Harry?” Daisy asked, pointing to the phone.

“It is,” Louis confirmed. “Go ahead and say hello.”

“Hello Prince Harry,” Daisy said sweetly. “I wanted to tell you that I like your hair, and I think that you have a very nice smile, and I think that you’re a very good person.”

“Thank you,” Harry said sincerely. “That’s incredibly kind of you. Who am I talking to, is this Daisy?”

“It is!” Daisy exclaimed, surprised. “You know my name!?”

“I do. Louis talks about you guys all the time, you know.”

Louis’ family looked at him with matching looks of happiness, and Jay put her hand to her heart.

“Oh no, look what you did!” Louis exclaimed with a groan. “They’re all looking at me so… _fondly_.”

“It must be a terrible hardship, being you,” Harry drawled dryly.

“Terrible,” Louis echoed seriously.

“How is your Christmas going?” Harry asked the family.

“It’s been wonderful,” Lottie answered for the group. “And this was quite a surprise, thank you. Louis was very secretive about the whole thing; he’s a terrible brother, really.”

“I don’t believe you for a second,” Harry laughed.

“You’re a good judge of character, then,” Fizzy teased, finally getting over her shyness enough to add to the conversation.

“Have you opened presents yet?” Harry asked. “Any favorites?”

“I think my favorite present is…” Lottie trailed off, thinking, before a sheepish grin spread across her face and she finished with “having my terrible brother home.”

“You big softie!” Louis teased. “That’s my favorite present too.”

“Is Phoebe there?” Harry asked. Louis looked at his sister and handed her the phone.

“Yes, hello,” Phoebe said shyly.

“Louis told me that you quite like Gemma, is that right?”

“Uh-huh,” Phoebe nodded. “She’s very beautiful and funny.”

“I would agree with you on both counts,” Harry said happily. “It just so happens that I have her here with me, if you’d like to say hello?”

“Yes, please,” Phoebe breathed.

“Hi, is this Phoebe?” Gemma’s voice came over the phone.

“Hi Princess Gemma,” Phoebe said excitedly. “Happy Christmas!”

“Happy Christmas! Have you had a good Christmas so far?” Gemma asked.

“Very good,” Phoebe said enthusiastically. “My brother is home, we got loads of presents, _and_ I got to talk to you and Prince Harry so I think this is the best Christmas I’ve ever had,” Phoebe said seriously.

“Definitely,” Daisy agreed, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. “Hi Princess Gemma! This is Daisy, I’m Phoebe’s twin sister and I think you’re very beautiful.”

“Thank you!” Gemma exclaimed happily. “That’s so sweet of you! You girls are so lovely. I’m going to hand you back over to Harry now. Happy Christmas, girls! Happy Christmas, Louis! Happy Christmas, Tomlinson family!” Gemma exclaimed, and there was shuffling for a moment before Harry came back on the line.

“Gemma and I were just about to watch some Christmas movies, but I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Christmas one more time.”

A chorus of “Happy Christmas!” and “Thank you!” was heard from around the room before Louis took his phone back from Phoebe.

“Thanks, Harry!” Louis exclaimed. “Happy Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Crimble and all that.”

Harry laughed delightedly, and Louis’ face lit up at the sound.

“Happy Crimble, Lou. I’ll talk to you soon.”

**X**

“Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, everybody!” Niall sang loudly, holding up a bottle of whiskey.

Harry and Gemma had thrown a small New Years Eve party for just their closest friends. Harry was still reluctant to party in public given what had happened the last time he’d gone out to a party, and Gemma and Niall were being ridiculously supportive and sympathetic—neither of them had even suggested going out for New Year’s. Instead, it was a foregone conclusion that they would host a party themselves, and Harry could not be more grateful on a daily basis to have such amazing people surrounding him.

Harry was leaning against a wall in his apartment, surveying the chaotic scene in front of him with a dopey grin on his face. He’d had a difficult couple of months, but here, with a drink in his hand and the people he loved around him, he had nothing but optimism for 2014.

Harry’s only regret was that Louis couldn’t be at the party with them. Harry had become oddly close to Louis in such a short amount of time, and genuinely considered the older boy to be one of his best friends.

“Missing your boy?” Gemma teased, leaning against the wall next to him.

“Shut up,” Harry said, not even trying to deny it anymore.

“When was the last time you talked to him?” Gemma asked.

“Couple days ago,” Harry said with a shrug. “I haven’t wanted to bug him, he’s with his family.”

“They seemed nice,” Gemma commented. “His sisters were adorable.”

“They are nice, I think. I’ve never met them, but it’s obvious how close they all are.”

“I like Louis,” Gemma said with a tipsy giggle. “And I’m sorry he’s not here, now you won’t have anyone to kiss at midnight.”

“Get Niall drunk enough, and we’ll see,” Harry deadpanned, sending Gemma into even more giggles.

There were thirty minutes until midnight, and Harry couldn’t help but think that maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that Louis was still in Doncaster—Harry was drunk enough that he probably _would_ try to kiss Louis at midnight, and wouldn’t that just be a disaster?

Before Harry could think any further on that, his mobile started ringing. He fished it out of his pocket and Louis’ face appeared on the screen.

“I think someone wants to kiss you at midnight too,” Gemma teased.

“Hi, Louis!” Harry answered, completely ignoring his sister.

“Harreh!” Louis’ voice slurred. “Harreh! Merry Happy New Year!”

“Something tells me you’ve been drinking,” Harry laughed. He was drunk, but it sounded like Louis was far more gone than him.

“Just a little,” Louis said. “M’at a party, Haz!”

“I’m at a party too.”

“Good for you!” Louis said emphatically. “You’re at a party, I’m at a party, everyone should be at a party!”

“All the parties,” Harry agreed, a sloppy, drunken smile on his face. He had no idea what Louis was even talking about, but he was happy to just go with it. Because Louis had drunk-dialed _him_ on New Year’s Eve, and Harry hoped that counted for something.

“Wish you were at this party,” Louis said, suddenly sounding sad.

“It sounds like you’re having enough fun without me,” Harry laughed.

“No!” Louis protested loudly. “No fun without you.”

“I wish I was with you too, Lou,” Harry said genuinely, giggling at his friend.

“Miss you,” Louis said seriously. “Is that weird? That’s weird, right? S’weird. I’m weird.”

“Not weird,” Harry disagreed. “I miss you too.”

“You do?!” Louis asked in disbelief.

“Of course I do, you tit,” Harry laughed. “Be safe tonight and get home to London in one piece so I can see you.”

“Wait, Harreh!” Louis said quickly.

“Yeah?”

“I called for a thing,” Louis said.

“A thing?” Harry asked in amusement.

“Yeah, you know, a thing. A—a reason,” Louis explained.

“Oh!” Harry laughed. “What’s up?”

“This is very ‘portant,” Louis slurred.

“I’m listening,”

“Don’t do it,” Louis said seriously.

“Do what?”

“Don’t kiss anyone at midnight,” Louis explained.

Suddenly Harry heard a crash on Louis’ end of the phone line.

“Stan!” Louis laughed. “You ‘kay, mate? Gotta go, Harry, love you!” Louis finished, before the line went dead.

Harry stared at his phone in shock for a minute.

_Don’t kiss anyone at midnight._

How the fuck was Harry supposed to interpret that?! Did Louis mean don’t kiss anyone at midnight except for me? Or did he mean don’t kiss anyone at midnight because you know what happened last time you tried to kiss someone? Or was he just so drunk he didn’t know what he was saying? And then he hung up!

Harry fought the urge to call Louis back and demand an explanation, and instead decided to just keep drinking, as much and as quickly as possible until he was able to stop thinking about Louis.

Except, there weren’t enough cocktails in the world to stop Harry from thinking about Louis, which is why, fifteen minutes after midnight Harry sent Louis a drunken text message of his own.

_Happty New Yewearrrrrrrrrrrr!!!! Come homeeeeeee! Love yiouuu!! PS Did’nt kissanyeone like yoiu said_

The next day Harry woke up a little after noon to a text from Louis.

**Louis**  
 _I have vague memories of embarrassingly drunk dialing you last night. Sorry about that?_

Harry’s face lit up in a smile when he read the text. He had been afraid that Louis would blame it all on a blackout and never bring it up again.

_No worries, you were quite entertaining :) And I definitely sent you a drunk text of my own later on, so we’ll call it even_

**Louis**  
 _I have the world’s biggest hangover right now. I think I’m dying._

Harry groaned as he tried to sit up in bed before thinking better of it and lying back down again. He was hoping that since he slept until noon he would have slept off any hangover, but the pounding in his head told him differently.

_Ugh, me too. Drink water. Don’t die._

**Louis**  
 _Hungover Harry is a man of few words. I have to drive back to London today. I might actually die. Why did I do this to myself?_

Harry responded with a guess.

_New Year’s Eve? Kind of required to be drunk._

**Louis**  
 _True. Although I went a little overboard with it, I think. It’s weird being back in Doncaster sometimes._

_Weird how?_

**Louis**  
 _Just different. I’m different, maybe? Like, management always likes us to talk about how our hometowns are full of people who know who we really are, but that’s not always true._

There was a beat, then another message came through from Louis.

**Louis**  
 _Even people I’ve known for ages have an image they expect me to maintain. And like, how am I supposed to go to a party with a bunch of old friends I haven’t talked to in years and not sound like a complete bastard? They’re all graduating university and getting jobs and getting married and when they ask me what I’ve been up to, I can’t say well, just wrapped up a world tour. I’d sound like a prick._

Harry frowned at his phone. It sounded like this is something that had been bothering Louis for quite awhile. And while Harry could relate to a lot of things in Louis’ life, this was not something Harry had ever had to go through. He was born famous; Louis’ earned it.

_It might not sound as bad as you think. It’s no secret what you do for a living, right?_

**Louis**  
 _Yeah but I feel like they want me to be two people at once, and I just can’t win. They want me to be funny, famous Louis with lots of stories and jokes, but they also want me to be completely unchanged from when I left at 18. It’s like, they want to hear about it, but the second I talk about it then I’m arrogant? Not really sure how to explain it, it’s just a feeling I get. So I drank a lot. Stupidly._

_No, I get it, I think. I probably would have gotten pissed too. I think all you can really do is make sure that you’re surrounding yourself with people who DO know the real you and try not to worry so much about what other people think of you. You can’t please everyone, I’m living proof of that :P_

**Louis**  
 _Words of wisdom, as always. Jesus, I don’t want to get out of bed._

Harry grinned at Louis’ response, sinking back further into his pillows.

_Me neither. Thinking about staying in bed all day and watching movies._

**Louis**  
 _Jealous! Ugh, okay, I have to get up and shower and go home before I decide to quit the band and stay in bed forever._

_Drive safe!! If you’re not busy tonight let me know when you get home and I’ll bring you dinner. Chinese take away, perfect hangover food._

**Louis**  
 _I’d be lost without you xx_

Harry didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the afternoon.

True to his word, Harry made his way over to Louis’ house when he received a text around 7pm.

**Louis**  
 _Hooooooome! Still dying. Everything hurts. Chinese still an option?_

_Of course! :) I’ll be over in 45ish?_

**Louis**  
 _My hero !_

Which is how Harry found himself outside of Louis’ house, with James standing slightly behind him.

The door swung open and a grinning, but visibly tired Louis greeted them.

“Hazza!” Louis cried happily, pulling Harry in for a tight hug. “And you brought food!”

“Said I would, didn’t I?” Harry laughed, wrapping his arms around Louis just as tightly. It was a little awkward with the large bag of food in his right hand, but he loved the way Louis just _fit_ right into him, like they were two puzzle pieces. Louis had clearly dressed comfortably for his trip, sweatpants hanging low on his hips with an unzipped hoodie over a soft cotton t-shirt. He was the epitome of cuddly, and Harry did not quite want to let go.

“Feels like ages since I last saw you,” Louis murmured happily into Harry’s shoulder before stepping back and greeting James. “Hi James, how are you?”

“Very well, thank you,” James responded as Louis stepped aside.

“Go ahead and do your thing, mate,” Louis said, letting James do a quick walkthrough of the house.

Once James gave the all clear and went back to his post in the car, Harry and Louis went inside. Louis took the bag of food from Harry and brought it into the living room, setting it on the coffee table before dropping dramatically onto the couch with a groan.

“My head stopped hurting a couple of hours ago but I still feel absolutely disgusting,” Louis lamented.

“Still?” Harry asked with a frown, sitting down next to Louis.

“Told you I’m dying,” Louis pouted, opening up the food and taking a bite.

“So dramatic,” Harry laughed. “Have you eaten at all today?”

“I’m eating now,” Louis pointed out.

“Before now,” Harry rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“No, didn’t want food.”

“That’s probably why you feel like shit, then.”

“Yeah, but you’ve brought me food and fixed that problem. You saved my life.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Harry laughed, reaching for the remote and turning on the television, finding an episode of Friends to watch before settling back into the couch with his own carton of food.

Once they finished their food, Louis grabbed a blanket and covered them both with it, bodies gravitating towards each other. It didn't take long for Louis' head to drop to rest on Harry's shoulder, or for Harry's arm to wrap around Louis' smaller frame. Under the blanket, their legs tangled together and Louis let out a contented sigh.

For as loud, and brash, and quick-witted as Louis was, he was also so  _soft._ Harry loved the way that Louis could make him laugh like no one else, but his favorite Louis was when he was like this—tired, and sweet, and affectionate. This was Louis completely without pretenses, open and vulnerable, and Harry was completely in awe that Louis let him see him like this. It wasn't a privilege that he afforded to many people.

"New Year's Eve is dangerous," Louis yawned.

"Are you feeling at least a little better after eating?" Harry asked, bringing up a hand to card his fingers through the older boy's hair. His friendship with Louis was undoubtedly the most tactile friendship that he'd ever had. They always seemed to be touching each other in some small way—hugging, or poking, or tickling. There were very few boundaries between them.

"Yeah, loads. Thanks," Louis said, nodding against Harry's shoulder. "M'just really tired, and you're really comfortable."

"Go to sleep, then," Harry suggested with an affectionate grin, expecting a token protest from Louis.

"I've never been one to turn down a good nap when offered," Louis said, much to Harry's surprise, cuddling closer and readjusting the blanket. "Just wake me up if you get bored."

"Fair warning, I'll probably fall asleep too," Harry chuckled softly. "I can sleep absolutely anywhere; it's a particular talent of mine."

"Oh, stop going on about your sex life, Harold. I don't need to know how many strange beds you've slept in," Louis teased weakly, eyes closed and body heavy against Harry's.

Harry let out a burst of surprised laughter, chest shaking with mirth. Louis lifted his head up slightly and looked at Harry with a pout.

"Stop shaking my pillow," Louis said sternly.

"Sorry," Harry laughed. "You're a demanding sleeper, aren't you? I should have guessed."

"I'm demanding in many ways, Harold," Louis teased salaciously.

"You're impossible," Harry said fondly.

"I might be that too," Louis said with a grin before pushing his head hard into Harry's chest. "Now shut up before I'm forced to cuddle you into submission."

"Kinky," Harry replied, making Louis snort with laughter.

"Not tonight, love, I have a headache," Louis joked, sending Harry into another fit of giggles.

"Go to sleep, you tit," Harry laughed. Louis smiled at him softly, but didn't need any more convincing than that.

Harry took a minute to commit the scene to memory. Louis was sleeping peacefully, pressed up against him, cuddled into his side. Their legs were tangled together and Louis' head had fallen onto Harry's chest, his hair tickling the bottom of Harry's chin and all of Harry's senses were assaulted with  _LouisLouisLouis_. Harry was slowly learning to live with the ever present urge to snog Louis' face off ( _that_ had been there since basically the minute Harry met Louis in that tiny toilet) but moments like these didn't help his cause.

The worst part about it was that Harry genuinely couldn't figure out where Louis' stood. Was Louis attracted to him? Harry was pretty sure that he was, but the real question was whether or not Louis was  _interested_? Sometimes Harry thought that he was, but other times he wasn't so sure. For his part, Harry wasn't sure he could make it any  _more_  obvious how interested  _he_  was in Louis short of some kind of public declaration.

No, the only thing Harry could do is continue to put himself out there, and hope that one day Louis would pick up on the hints.

Making a decision, Harry texted James, his security detail. He should have switched out with Thomas for the night shift already, and would be coming back in the morning. He tapped away quietly before placing his phone back on the arm of the couch, and shifted his body slightly so that he was at a more comfortable angle, careful not to wake Louis in the process.

Lying on the sofa, wrapped up in Louis, it wasn’t long before Harry was asleep too.

The next morning, Harry woke up a tangle of limbs, and slipped out from under Louis as gracefully as he could (which, to be honest, wasn't very graceful at all) and went to meet James outside to retrieve what he'd asked for.

When Louis woke up ten minutes later, it was to the smell of sausage cooking. Harry grinned when Louis stumbled into the kitchen, a confused look on his face.

"What's all this?" Louis asked, voice still gravelly with sleep.

"Breakfast!" Harry said proudly, standing in front of the stove with a ridiculous apron on. "Fajitas aren’t the only thing I can cook."

"Jesus, Haz," Louis said, looking around the kitchen in awe. "For me or for an army? There's so much food here! Wait, how did food get here in the first place?"

"I had James bring it, and we don't have to make it all," Harry pointed out logically.

"Yes we do," Louis demanded, an enthusiastic smile on his face. "Do you do pancakes too?"

"I do," Harry nodded seriously, "but they're a specialty. You have to sleep with me first."

Louis' eyes widened briefly for a second and he visibly swallowed before coming back into himself and meeting Harry's teasing smile with one of his own.

"Well, Harold, depending on how good this breakfast is, that could be arranged."

Harry laughed loudly, loving the way Louis always rose to the occasion whenever Harry tried to flirt with him.

Before Harry had a chance to respond, they heard a door slam and Zayn's voice echoed through the house.

"Wakey, wakey, sunshine!" Zayn called out, climbing the stairs to get to Louis' bedroom. "Liam, he's not here!" Zayn called out a second later.

"Tommo!" Liam yelled. "You in, mate?"

"Kitchen!" Louis cried, shaking his head at his friends.

"Are you  _cooking_?!" Zayn asked, as his footsteps got closer to the kitchen. When he rounded the corner he stopped dead in his tracks. "Oh."

"Hi!" Harry said cheerfully, waving his hand with the spatula still in it.

Just then, Liam turned up behind Zayn, mouth dropping open. To Liam's credit, he tried hard to compose himself quickly.

"So,  _not_  you cooking then," Liam sputtered. "Good, that's...good."

"You think I'd let him anywhere near a stove?" Harry asked, incredulously, wiping a hand on his apron before walking over to where the boys had stopped in their tracks. "I'm Harry," he introduced himself, shaking each of their hands.

"Zayn," Zayn said, recovering from his shock and shaking Harry's hand warmly.

"Liam," Liam introduced himself. From the looks on the boys’ faces, it was clear what they thought they had walked in on. "So...sorry, it appears that we're intruding. We just came by to check and make sure Louis was still alive but it looks like you already have that covered."

"Alive and well," Harry agreed, smiling angelically and Louis burst out into laughter, roughly shoving Harry away from the boys. 

"You sadistic little bastard, you're enjoying this, you shit," Louis laughed.

And if Zayn and Liam weren’t sure how to react before, they were _completely_ thrown off guard by Louis calling the _Prince of England_ a bastard.                                     

"And you two!" Louis exclaimed, turning on his friends. "You're the least subtle shits on the planet. Harry is here because he brought me dinner last night and we fell asleep on the couch. And he's making breakfast because he's an angel and for some reason has gotten it into his pretty little head that he doesn't want me to starve. So you can both stop acting like you've just walked in on us having sex in the kitchen."

Harry had lost it at that point, shoulders shaking in silent laughter, gripping the counter as he tried to compose himself. Zayn and Liam took a minute to register what Louis had said, before sheepish smiles came over their faces.

“To be fair, it looked more like Harry was making you a morning-after breakfast,” Liam noted.

“Impossible, I have it on good authority that Harry’s morning-after breakfast special is pancakes. Also, I would imagine that he would probably be cooking them naked,” Louis said seriously.

“Stop!” Harry cried, trying to get control of his giggles. “I’ll burn breakfast if you keep that up!”

“Then you’re not a very good chef, are you?” Louis teased, before turning to his bandmates. “Stay for breakfast, lads? Harry got enough food to feed ten people at least.”

“Sure,” Zayn said with a shrug. “Need any help, Harry?”

“Just occupy the menace if you would, please,” Harry laughed. “I’m a serious chef, no tomfoolery in this kitchen.”

“You’re so full of shit,” Louis said with an affectionate eye roll.

Slowly, the easy, quick banter between Harry and Louis brought Zayn and Liam out of their shells, and by the time they had sat down to eat the feast that Harry had prepared, the conversation was flowing and easy. 

Harry had found it a little odd that, while he and Louis had become very close, he had never met Zayn and Liam, and Louis had never met Niall. It wasn’t that he was purposefully keeping Louis from meeting Niall, it was just that whenever he had a chance to spend time with Louis, he didn’t really want other people _involved_ —breaking their bubble, reminding them that the touches, and glances, and hugs weren’t necessarily completely platonic. But, after meeting Zayn and Liam he suddenly felt a lot better about the whole situation. Louis’ hadn’t touched Harry any less than usual in front of his friends, and to their credit, they didn’t give their behavior a second glance.

Looking around the kitchen table, Harry couldn’t help but smile. Here, at Louis’ house, with Louis’ friends, Harry was still just _Harry_. Zayn and Liam had accepted him as easily as Louis did, and Harry couldn’t think of a time in his life when he had ever felt more content.

He still wanted to snog Louis’ face off, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr, if you'd like! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	5. V

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the late update this week, guys! Christmas threw off my writing schedule a bit, and there's a lot that goes down in this chapter so I didn't want to post it prematurely.
> 
> And thank you so much for the wonderful response to this fic! Your comments absolutely make my day :)

It was the second week of January, and now that One Direction had officially changed management companies, Louis could _finally_ “break up” with Eleanor. Louis, Zayn, and Liam had just gotten out of a debriefing on the Elounor relationship, and had approved the statement that management was going to release to the public in just a couple of hours. Louis excitedly tapped away at his phone, texting Harry.

**Louis**   
_I’m a single man!_

He didn’t’ have to wait long for a response.

**Harry**   
_Congratulations!!!!_

**Louis**   
_Such a fucking relief!_

**Harry  
** _Yayyyy! Let’s celebrate! Drinks are on me, bring the boys :)_

Louis’ raised his eyebrows in surprise before texting Harry back to clarify.

**Louis**   
_Drinks as in going out or drinks as in drinks at your place?_

**Harry  
** _Going out :) Nothing too crazy, but I can’t hide away forever, right? What better way to reintroduce myself to London’s nightlife than by celebrating my best mate finally shaving his beard ;)_

Louis barked out a laugh before turning to Liam and Zayn.

“Lads, Harry wants us all to go out with him tonight to celebrate,” Louis said happily.

“ _Out_ out?” Liam asked, surprised.

“Apparently,” Louis nodded.

“Sick! Yeah I’m in,” Zayn said.

“Me too,” Liam nodded.

“Good for him,” Zayn continued. “And good for you too.”

“Today is a day for the record books,” Louis said with a happy laugh. “The prince is finally leaving his castle and I finally get to trim this mess on my face.”

“Honestly, that was one of your dumbest and most brilliant ideas, Tommo,” Liam laughed. “Refusing to shave your beard until you could get rid of your beard.”

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s been getting really itchy,” Louis said seriously. “I like a little stubble meself, but I might just shave it all.”

“Don’t do that,” Zayn said, shaking his head. “You have this whole badass, rocker look going on. Just trim it, yeah?”

“Bet Harry likes a bit of stubble,” Liam teased.

“Fuck off, bastard,” Louis laughed, rolling his eyes.

But…Liam had a point.

It wasn’t until later that afternoon when Louis was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, razor in hand, that he finally called Harry. It wasn’t that it really _mattered_ which Harry preferred, it was just that Louis wanted a second opinion on his facial hair, he rationalized.

“Hey, Lou,” Harry answered brightly.

“Stubble or no stubble?” Louis asked, skipping the small talk.

“Um, on you specifically or in general?” Harry asked.

“Is there a difference?” Louis asked curiously.

“There might be,” Harry teased. “Good stubble is completely reliant on good bone structure. If you don’t have an angular jaw, stubble can just look sloppy, not sexy.”

“Oh,” Louis said, not completely sure which category he fit into. “So, you’re saying…”

“Yes to stubble, definitely,” Harry answered confidently before scoffing, “Don’t even pretend like you don’t know that you have amazing bone structure. I’d kill for your cheekbones.”

“Do I?” Louis laughed, preening from the compliment. “I can’t say that I’d ever really paid attention.”

“Really?” Harry asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

“No, never,” Louis replied honestly. “My face is just my face; it’s alright I suppose, for what it is, but I’m usually more focused on other, er, problem areas.”

“Problem areas?!” Harry exclaimed dramatically. “Lou, you don’t have an even mildly problematic part of your body and anyone who told you otherwise needs to seek immediate medical attention.”

“Stop it before you make me blush,” Louis teased.

“I just call it like I see it,” Harry said, but Louis could hear his grin over the phone.

“Well I’m sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, Harold, but it might be about time to get your vision checked.”

“My vision is perfectly fine, thank you very much,” Harry laughed, before switching topics. “Niall is so excited to meet you guys.”

“I’m excited to meet him too!” Louis said honestly. “I can’t even believe that I haven’t met him yet, to be honest. I feel like I already know him, you talk about him all the time.”

“He may or may not have said the same thing about you,” Harry teased. “I’ve gotta run, but I’d better see you with at least a little stubble tonight!”

“I’ll do my best,” Louis laughed before they said their goodbyes.

Going out with Harry in London was simultaneously everything and nothing that Louis expected. The club they went to was loud, outrageous, filled with hipsters, and completely Harry’s scene. And once word got out that Prince Harry was _finally_ partaking in a night out on the town, the paparazzi were unlike anything that Louis had ever seen before. That was all expected, though. What was _unexpected_ was how approachable Harry made himself while he was in the club. He talked to absolutely _everyone_ , and was so _giving_. He took pictures with every person who asked for one, and chatted with everyone he came across, in the same easy, friendly manner that attracted Louis to him in the first place. It wasn’t that Harry was behaving out of character, because that’s who he was through and through, but Louis found it oddly unexpected how little time he got to spend with Harry during their night out. Louis wasn’t sure exactly what he _had_ been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t for Harry to go to the bar to get a drink and then completely disappear.

“Sorry, he gets like this, sometimes,” Niall said loudly, voice straining to be heard over the music, throwing an arm casually around Louis’ shoulders.

“What?” Louis asked, playing dumb.

“He’s just a people person, you know? He stops to say hi to someone and before you know it he’s been talking to them for thirty minutes,” Niall explained.

“I know that,” Louis said with a confused laugh, giving Niall a reassuring smile. “He cornered me in the toilet for over an hour when we first met. Unique guy, our Harold.”

“Mate, you don’t know the half of it,” Niall laughed. “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink. He’ll turn back up eventually, he always does.  And hey, if he’s taking too long you can always get out there and start dancing, that’ll make him take notice real quick,” Niall teased.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I will take you up on that drink,” Louis said, laughing off Niall’s comment and trying to play dumb.

“Come on, then,” Niall said, giving Louis a knowing smirk before turning and heading over towards the bar.

Niall, however, was _exactly_ like Louis had expected him to be. He was the kind of person who was always game for a laugh, always managed to find the humor in every situation, and was obviously an incredibly protective and loyal friend. He got on famously with Louis and the rest of the boys right off of the bat, adding the happy, carefree dynamic that they had been lacking.

Unfortunately for Louis, Niall also seemed to be a very perceptive friend as well.

“I don’t like to get too involved in Harry’s personal life,” Niall said after their third drink. Louis’ head was buzzing with alcohol, and he was in that comfortable, relaxed state in between tipsy and drunk, but Niall’s words made him wary enough to sober up a little.

“What do you mean?” Louis asked.

“I’m not the kind of friend to tell him what he should or shouldn’t do,” Niall clarified. “Not unless he asks, of course.”

“Okay,” Louis said slowly, unsure of where the conversation was going.

“I just don’t want to see him get hurt again,” Niall said frankly. “The last time was bad enough, and he doesn’t deserve that kind of shit.”

“I agree,” Louis said honestly. “Are you saying that you think _I’m_ going to hurt him?”

“No,” Niall said, and Louis could tell that it was an honest answer. “I like you. You’ve done a lot for Harry, believe it or not. I’m just saying that he’s let you in close enough that now you have the _potential_ to hurt him. So just be careful with him, yeah? He gives himself away too easily.”

Before Louis had a chance to respond, a familiar pair of arms wrapped around his shoulders.

“Lou!” Harry exclaimed, evidently already having had a couple of drinks himself.

“Hey, Hazza,” Louis greeted with a smile, turning a bit to wrap an arm around Harry’s waist, returning the sloppy hug.

“Lou, come dance with me,” Harry implored, tugging at the sleeve of Louis’ jacket.

“I don’t dance, Haz, sorry,” Louis laughed, shaking his head.

“Yes you do!” Harry insisted.

“Not well,” Louis retorted.

“Don’t care, it’ll be fun,” Harry implored, grabbing onto the pockets of Louis’ jacket, pulling Louis closer and nuzzling his head into the crook of Louis’ shoulder.

Okay, apparently Harry had quite a bit more to drink than Louis originally thought.

“Please,” Harry requested, and _holy Jesus_ pressed a light, feathery kiss into Louis’ shoulder. Louis jumped at the contact and squirmed out of the way, grabbing Harry’s hand with a forced laugh.

“Fine, fine, come on then,” Louis huffed with a grin, pulling Harry out onto the dance floor. When he turned around to look at him, Harry was grinning like a cat that caught the canary, completely victorious. “You’re a little shit, you know that?” Louis laughed.

“You love me,” Harry insisted, and who was Louis to argue with that, really?

Harry’s dancing was just the way Harry was in the rest of his life—slightly awkward, at times surprising, but overall quite a lot of fun. Louis found himself genuinely enjoying dancing with Harry, but mostly enjoying how Harry’s attention was completely on him while they were dancing, going out of his way to ensure that Louis was having a good time. Louis could see Niall, Liam, and Zayn watching them from across the room, and Zayn gave him an exaggerated thumbs up, to which Louis shot him the dirtiest look that he could muster while feeling so incandescently happy.

After a couple of songs and a couple more drinks, Louis was feeling decidedly drunk when Harry leaned into him, invading his space, nose bumping Louis’ cheek as Harry said, “I love this song,” and twirled Louis around, chest pressed up against Louis’ back as the arm that wasn’t holding a drink circled around Louis’ waist, pulling their bodies tightly against each other until they were grinding together, moving in time with the music.

Louis was not the kind of person who liked feeling small—even though he had accepted his short stature, he had a big personality to make up for the difference. This included his relationships as well; Louis liked to be the one in control of a situation. But here, with Harry, tall and gangly as he was, practically encompassing Louis with his body, hand clutching tightly at Louis’ hip as Harry guided them through the music, Louis was too overwhelmed by Harry to even give it a second thought.

And even though Louis knew that it was probably a Bad Idea, he let himself relax and enjoy the moment. He closed his eyes and pressed harder back into Harry, moving and shaking his hips as tantalizingly as he could. When he rolled his hips back into Harry’s he could feel Harry half hard against him, and the thought went straight to his dick. Harry let out a breath against Louis’ neck, which only spurred Louis on to twist, and tease, and shimmy some more. Harry grip on Louis’ hip tightened, and Louis was certain that there would be bruises there in the morning, which surprised Louis how _much_ the idea excited him. He wanted Harry to mark him, to _claim_ him, to take him as his.

When the song ended, Harry tugged at Louis’ hips and spun him around roughly. The look on Harry’s face took Louis’ breath away—it was a look of pure _desire_ , _lust, need_. They stood there for a moment, staring at each other, breathing heavily, and Louis was about two seconds away from jumping Harry right there, public be damned, when Niall sauntered up, dancing up in between them, putting a respectable amount of space between the two.

“Niall,” Harry growled, and fuck if that wasn’t the sexiest sound that Louis had ever heard in his life.

“If you two are gonna fuck, could you maybe do it in private?” Niall teased, but the meaning behind his words was clear, and Louis sobered up immediately, stepping back and taking a look around him. People weren’t paying too much attention to them, but there were enough people around that Louis was sure a significant amount of pictures had probably been taken, and even though they weren’t doing anything too incriminating, it was better to quit while they were ahead in that regard.

Louis looked over at Liam, who raised his eyebrows at him slightly in question. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds, silently communicating before Louis pulled Harry and Niall off of the dance floor to where Liam and Zayn were waiting.

“It’s getting late, Tommo,” Liam said in greeting. “I think Zayn and I are gonna head out, you want a ride?”

Harry’s hands found their way to Louis’ hips again as Harry leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Don’t go yet. Stay, come back to mine.”

Louis closed his eyes, fighting to stay rational against every nerve ending in his body that was screaming at him to go home with Harry. Because Louis knew that this wasn’t just Harry inviting Louis back to spend the night, this was Harry inviting Louis back to _spend the night_ , and as badly as Louis wanted that to happen, he knew it was a bad idea. They were both drunk, and there were hundreds of paparazzi surrounding the club at all exits. If they were spotted getting into the same car, it would…well, it would complicate things. Louis wasn’t about to be another tabloid story in Harry’s life; another complication to make things more difficult for him.

“Not tonight, love, yeah?” Louis said, turning his head and pressing an affectionate kiss to Harry’s cheek. “It’s late, we should all get home.”

“I agree,” Niall said, shooting Louis a grateful look before slinging an arm around Harry’s shoulders and pressing a sloppy kiss to the opposite cheek.

Harry stared at Louis with an unreadable expression that Louis was afraid was verging on hurt when Harry’s guards came up and he plastered a fake grin on his face. Louis could tell the moment it happened, and it felt like a punch to the gut.

“Yeah, thanks Lou. I’ll see you lads around, yeah?” Harry said politely.

Everyone said their goodbyes and Harry’s security detail did their best to get them through the hoard of photographers and into their cars safely. It was complete madness, and more than a little scary, and Louis didn’t even have an opportunity to catch Harry’s eye before they were in separate cars and driving home.

Louis leaned his head against the car window with a sigh. Somehow it felt like he had completely and totally fucked everything up.

The next morning, things went from bad to worse. Louis was woken up by a very angry phone call from their new management company.  Pictures of Harry and Louis from the previous night were littered all over the internet.

“Should I even ask you what the hell you were thinking?!” the representative asked angrily.

Louis groaned and wiped a hand over his face, wanting to throw his phone across the room because _again_? _Really?_  Wasn’t the whole idea of forcibly closeting Louis part of the reason why they switched management companies in the first place?

“I don’t know what you want me to tell you!” Louis practically screamed. “I went to a club with a friend, we danced, and that’s it! I wasn’t the only person there either, call Liam and yell at him. Oh, I forgot, you won’t do that because it doesn’t matter what the fuck he does since he’s straight.”

“Louis, your sexuality has nothing to do with this. This is completely about your mismanagement of your image! If you want to come out as gay, great, come out! We’re happy to work with you on that! But do it in a safe, managed way! Or do you really want to be the next person caught kissing Prince Harry? You’re friends with him, right? Surely you must have seen how damaging that was for him.”

“Don’t you dare bring him into this or even think about comparing me to Nick fucking Grimshaw,” Louis said menacingly. He was breathing heavily and felt like he was either going to throw up or break something, and _really_ , that was a fucking low blow.

“Listen, I understand that you’re upset,” the representative said calmly. “All I’m asking is that you think about how your behavior looks before you get so defensive. Louis, you just broke up with your girlfriend _yesterday_. You and I know that she wasn’t real, but the public doesn’t know that. And then not even 6 hours after the breakup was announced you’re at a club, drunk and grinding on your friend _Prince Harry_? It looks bad, Louis.”

Well, shit. He had kind of forgotten about Eleanor. Management was right, that _did_ make him look like a jerk.

“You’re right,” Louis sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” the representative said, brushing him off. “Just _think_ before you act next time. I don’t want to see you outed before you’re ready, and I don’t think you’re really ready. We’re gonna spin the story that you were just blowing off some steam with friends, drunk and single for the first time in a long while, but you know that’s not going to crush the rumors now that they’ve started.”

“No, I know,” Louis said, sighing heavily.

“There’s a group of fans who have labeled you two Larry Stylinson. They’re fans who believe that you and Prince Harry are in a secret relationship, and they’re actually very supportive, but expect to hear a lot more about Larry Stylinson coming up. If it gets to be too overwhelming we can always blacklist the topic in interviews, but it’s best not to do that yet, not to make it seem like you have anything to hide.”

“Okay,” Louis agreed quietly, retreating into himself. Everything felt overwhelming already, and all they’d done was _dance_. Louis couldn’t imagine the kind of chaos and madness that would come if he actually decided to come out. Was that what Harry had been dealing with?

Maybe management was right, maybe Louis _wasn’t_ ready.

After a final few instructions, Louis hung up the phone and buried his head into his pillow. All he wanted to do was hide from the world.

To make matters worse, the more the thought about the previous night, the more certain he was that Harry was mad at him. There was no way around it, Louis had _rejected_ him. And it was horrible, because Louis didn’t even think that he could form the words to explain to Harry why. How could he explain that _God, yes_ , all he wanted to do was go home with him, but the timing was wrong, they were both drunk, and there were hundreds of paparazzi just waiting for them? How could he explain that he said no _for_ Harry? Because Harry was drunk, and horny, and probably would regret it in the morning? Instead, to Harry, it just looked like Louis didn’t want him, and was letting him down easy, when that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

But as much as it hurt, Louis knew that it was probably for the best. As attracted as they were to each other, how would a relationship between them even work? Harry was nineteen, and about to go off to university, and had endless responsibilities that he had to attend to; and Louis was in a boy band, rarely home for more than two or three days at a time, and about to embark on another world tour in just a few months. If they started something, it was almost inevitable that it would end badly, so why ruin such a good friendship?

Damn, he had _really_ wanted to say yes, though.

If Louis had thought that things would calm down over the next couple of weeks, he was wrong. He had gone from being occasionally noticed by the paparazzi to absolutely _hounded_ by them. They followed him around London, always seeming to turn up wherever Louis went. He hadn’t spotted any outside of his house yet, but he figured that it was only a matter of time before they found out where he lived.

Things between him and Harry were a little awkward, as well. They had texted a couple of times since that night, but not nearly as often as they usually would have, and Louis even found himself second-guessing the texts that he was sending Harry. If Liam said something dumb, his first reaction was to text it to Harry to laugh about, but he started wondering if maybe it would be best to put some space between them, let things settle down a bit. He must have typed out at least fifty text messages throughout one week that he subsequently deleted.

Harry’s birthday came and went without much fanfare. Harry was at Balmoral with his family, opting to have a quiet birthday rather than having a large party in London. Louis’ tweet and text to Harry that day were simple, but Louis hoped that they conveyed just how much Harry meant to him.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles Happy Birthday to the greatest person I know x

**Louis  
** _Happy birthday!!! Hope you’re having fun in Scotland! Love you xx_

Louis took it as a good sign when Harry texted him back.

**Harry  
** _Thank youuu! :) Love & miss you loads xx_

It wasn’t until Louis was gearing up to go to the US for an awards show in mid February that Harry had returned to London and finally asked to see him.

**Harry**   
_It’s been ages since I last saw you!! Let’s hang out before you have to go and be super famous in America, yeah?_

Louis felt quite a bit of relief when he received the text message. He hadn’t been actively avoiding Harry, but they’d both been busy, and he figured that Harry had been a little hurt the last time they saw each other, so he had been waiting for the younger boy to be the one to reach out.

**_Louis  
_ ** _Yes, defo!! It’s been forever!_

So they made plans for Harry to come over to Louis’ house that afternoon to relax, play video games, and just generally stay out of the view of the public.

To be honest, Louis was quite looking forward to seeing Harry again. It had been over a month, and it didn’t sit right with Louis how they’d left things the last time, drunk and on different pages. More than that, Louis just plain _missed_ Harry. The past few weeks had felt really strange, like he was walking around with a missing limb, and he hoped that things between him and Harry could get back to normal.

About five minutes before Harry was due to arrive, Louis received a phone call from Fizzy.

“Hey, Fiz,” Louis answered, slightly concerned. Fizzy texted far more often than she called, and she usually never called in the middle of a school day.

“Was Eleanor a beard?” she asked abruptly. Louis could hear the anger in her voice, and his heart dropped to his shoes.

“Fizzy…” he trailed off, completely at a loss.

“How could you not tell me?! How _could_ you! I stuck up for you, I _defended_ you!” Fizzy screamed.

“You’re thirteen,” Louis said weakly. “I just wanted to keep you all out of it, far away from that whole mess. I was trying to protect you.”

“ _Protect_ me?!” Fizzy yelled incredulously. “Do you have _any idea_ how much hate I get on a daily basis just from being your sister? People have been asking me from day one if you were gay, and I _always_ stuck up for you because I figured that if you were, I would know, right? Surely you’d tell your family. And then it turns out that you _did_ tell your family, just not me. Lottie knows, Mum knows, and you’ve all been fucking keeping it from me!”

“No,” Louis corrected. “Mum knows, yes, because she’s mum and she knows everything. And Lottie guessed last year. I didn’t tell them and purposefully not tell you, I didn’t want _any_ of you girls to know.”

“And that makes it better?!” Fizzy scoffed.

“Was it the right call? I don’t know,” Louis said honestly, running a hand through his hair, feeling incredibly low. “But I did what I did because I was trying to protect you, and I won’t apologize for that.”

“Are you dating Harry?” Fizzy asked bluntly.

“No,” Louis whispered. “I’m not dating anyone.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you anymore, Louis,” Fizzy said after a moment of silence. He could hear tears in her voice, and it made him want to smash his head through a wall. Out of all of his sisters, Fizzy was the least likely to cry. He couldn’t even _remember_ the last time he’d seen her cry, and now here he was, the reason for her tears.

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” Louis said sincerely. “That wasn’t what I wanted. That’s what I was trying to avoid.”

“I hate you,” Fizzy sobbed, tears spilling out.

“You couldn’t hate me more than I hate myself right now,” Louis said honestly, feeling like complete shit.

“I’ve gotta go,” Fizzy said, sniffling and composing herself. “I’m in school.”

“Did something happen?” Louis asked, concerned.

“I can handle it,” Fizzy said sharply, brushing him off. “I’m not a child.”

“Fizzy, if you need anything—“ Louis started, but she cut him off.

“I don’t need anything! Not from _you_.”

“But still, just let me know, yeah? I love you,” Louis said sadly.

“Sure,” Fizzy scoffed, before hanging up.

**X**

Harry had never seen Louis cry. He’d seen Louis angry, sad, frustrated, furious, but he’d never, ever seen him cry. Which is why he was so surprised when he arrived at Louis’ house and Louis opened the door, red-eyed and distant. Harry didn’t even wait for James to make his rounds through the house before he crossed the threshold and gathered Louis into his arms.

“Lou, babe, what happened?” Harry asked, concern written all over his face. He could feel the way Louis collapsed into him, face pressed against his shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around him, clearly seeking comfort and affection, which were two things that Harry was more than willing to give.

“I’m such a fuck up,” Louis mumbled into Harry’s sweater.

“What happened?” Harry asked again, maneuvering them into the house and onto the couch in the living room.

“Fizzy called, and she—she _hates_ me,” Louis said sorrowfully.

“What?” Harry asked surprised. “Louis, your sisters adore you. Whatever it is I’m sure she’ll get over it.”

“She didn’t know I’m gay,” Louis whispered, resting his head in his hands.

“That’s why she hates you?” Harry asked, eyebrows raised in shock. “She didn’t seem the type…”

“No,” Louis clarified. “She doesn’t hate me because I’m gay, at least not that I know of; she hates me because I didn’t tell her.”

“Oh,” Harry breathed. And yeah, that sounded like a horrible situation to be put in. Pushing all other thoughts aside, Harry gathered Louis back into his arms, carding his fingers through Louis’ hair. He didn’t say anything, because he wasn’t sure that there was anything he _could_ say. He had a strong feeling that Fizzy would come around, but that wouldn’t take away the pain that Louis was currently feeling.

“I’m such a shitty person,” Louis mumbled miserably.

“No,” Harry disagreed immediately.

“I am,” Louis insisted. “She’s right, I should have told her.”

“In any other situation I’d agree with you,” Harry said seriously. “But, Lou, you’re not exactly in a normal situation, are you? You didn’t tell her because she’s thirteen years old and it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to keep a secret like that. Of course she doesn’t understand that now because she’s hurt and emotional, but give her some time and she’ll come around. You did the right thing.”

“Thanks, Haz,” Louis said, sighing heavily into Harry’s chest before sitting up and running a hand through his hair tiredly. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way out here, I’m gonna be poor company today, I’m afraid. You can go if you want to.”

“I’m not going anywhere, idiot,” Harry said affectionately.

“Good,” Louis said, squeezing Harry’s side with a small, sad grin, “I’ve kind of gotten used to you.”

Harry returned Louis’ grin with a wide smile of his own, because he understood what Louis meant. Harry felt slightly guilty at the distance he had put between himself and Louis over the past couple of weeks, but it had been a necessary evil. Harry had made a bit of a fool of himself at the club, and wanted some time alone to lick his wounds and come to terms with the fact that Louis genuinely didn’t want anything from him other than friendship. It wasn’t that Harry couldn’t respect that, or handle rejection; it was just that he wanted some space to try and fall out of love with the other boy a little before they moved forward with their friendship. Try and make things hurt a little less.

Harry thought he’d been pretty successful, actually. He’d stopped texting Louis every minute, and had pushed him as far from his mind as possible. But, sitting across from him on Louis’ couch, in Louis’ house, with Louis looking so open and vulnerable, Harry realized that falling out of love with Louis just wasn’t an option.  Louis was the kind of person who drew you in and kept you there, and Harry had a feeling that Louis wasn’t planning on letting him go any time soon.

Harry’s afternoon with Louis turned out surprisingly well, considering the state that Louis was in when he first arrived. The two of them always seemed to feed off of each other’s energy, and even though Louis was a little more on edge than he usually was, he was quickly laughing and beating the shit out of Harry in FIFA. If Harry had any concerns about their friendship after that night in the club, he didn’t need to—things between them were as easy as ever. They had the kind of friendship, Harry realized, where it didn’t matter what happened between them or how much time they spent apart, they’d always just fall straight back into things like no time had passed at all.

Harry was feeling pretty good about things when Louis left a couple of days later to go to the US. One Direction was performing at the Academy Awards, and Harry was beyond pleased for them. He knew that Louis was a little nervous about heading to the United States as the paparazzi were always more vicious over there, and the backlash from his night out with Harry was only just dying down, but Harry was pretty confident that they’d be okay. If anything, Louis had become a master at ignoring and keeping moving, which most times was the only choice you had when dealing with paps.

The afternoon that Louis, Liam, and Zayn headed to the states, Harry received a text message from someone that he never thought he’d talk to again.

**Nick**   
_Can we talk?_

Harry stared at his phone incredulously. He wanted to break his phone and throw up at the same time. How _dare_ he? As if Harry had _anything_ to say to that cretin.

Harry’s first instinct was to just ignore the message, which he did. Except, then he got another message, then another, then another.

**Nick**   
_I’m really sorry. I’ve wanted to apologize for ages, but I was hoping to do it in person._

**Nick  
** _Things didn’t happen exactly the way you think._

**Nick  
** _Please. I’ve been getting death threats, and I’m really in over my head here…_

The last message was what got Harry. He didn’t really want anything to do with Nick anymore, regardless of what Nick’s side of the story was, but he also wasn’t heartless and didn’t want him getting death threats either. Harry knew firsthand how scary those could be, and Nick wasn’t famous, not really, so he didn’t have any security guards to help give him that extra layer of comfort. And it sounded like he was genuinely pretty terrified.

Sighing, Harry reluctantly typed out a message.

**Harry**   
_Would it help if we met for coffee somewhere public? Just once, so it looks like I don’t completely hate you. Which I do, by the way._

**Nick _  
_**_Not to be morbid, but it would probably save my life._

Harry frowned at that. It was like Grimmy to be overly dramatic, but if he was genuinely in fear for his life, he really should go to the police.

**Harry  
** _I’ve got 30 minutes now. Can we just get it over with?_

**Nick**   
_Yes, thank you so much. I’ll meet you at the Starbucks round the corner from yours?_

**Harry**   
_Fine. I’ll be there._

Harry knew that he sounded a little harsh, which was really unlike him, but this was one situation where he genuinely had no intention of forgiving and forgetting. Nick had violated his trust in every sense of the word, and although Harry was a forgiving person, even he had his limits.

Harry got ready to go, grabbing his keys and phone, shoving them into his pocket. Before he walked out of the door, he sent a quick text to Niall, not wanting him to get word of their meeting from the press and think that it was anything more than it was. He definitely did not want any more lectures from his best friend.

**Harry**   
_Long story, Nialler, but I’m meeting Grimmy for coffee. I still hate him, but I’ll explain later. Just wanted you to hear it from me first._

Harry shoved his phone in his pocket and was out the door, eager to put that chapter of his life behind him.

When he got to Starbucks, Grimmy was waiting for him in one of the big, comfy chairs by the fireplace.

“Hey,” Harry said, taking a seat next to him. James was standing closer to Harry than he usually would, and Harry felt a rush of affection for the man.

“Hi,” Nick said, giving Harry a small smile. “Got you a latte.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, picking up the drink from the table and taking a long sip.

“How are you?” Nick asked.

“I’m good,” Harry answered, surprising himself at how honest it was. Because he _was_ doing well. Just a few months ago he’d thought his life was over, but it turned out that it was just beginning, and now he was closer to his family than ever and had an amazing group of friends surrounding him. How could he ever complain? “How are you?”

“I’m…I’ve been better, to be honest, but I’m getting there.”

Harry looked at Nick, _really_ looked at him, and he could see just how much this entire situation had taken a toll on him. He looked quite rough, bags under his eyes and tension in his shoulders, and Harry suddenly felt himself just let everything go. Harry was _fine_ , Harry was better than before in a lot of ways, and even though he’d never trust Nick again, he wasn’t going to carry around that hatred with him. He didn’t forgive him, exactly, but he just wanted to close that chapter of his life forever.

“Listen, I really want to apologize for what I did,” Nick said slowly, cutting to the chase. “I know that it’s pretty unforgiveable, so I don’t like, expect anything out of you, but I just wanted you to know how sorry I am.”

“Okay,” Harry said, staring at his shoes before looking up at Nick. “You’re right, I don’t think that it’s something that I can forgive, not really, but what’s done is done and I don’t think we need to rehash everything.”

“I’m an addict,” Nick said, making Harry raise his eyebrows in surprise. “Shit, you knew how much cocaine I was doing, Harry. I guess you could consider that my rock bottom? I’m just sorry that you were involved in the first place, I really am. I was so, just, completely off my face that night…I’d been on a path to self destruction for awhile and unfortunately you were just caught in my own shit storm. I used you, a friend, as an opportunity for money and more drugs, and what I did was so fucked up. I realize that now, and I just wanted you to know that.”

Harry sat there in stunned silence. Everyone knew that Grimmy had a problem, but Harry had no idea that it had run as deep as it had. He wasn’t sure how to feel after hearing all of that, so instead he just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“Are you clean now?” Harry asked.

“30 days yesterday,” Nick said proudly. “Figured it’s about time I got my life together, yeah?”

“Good for you,” Harry said genuinely. Sitting back in his chair, Harry realized that he felt a lot better. He had needed to hear that from Nick, even though he thought that he didn’t.

“Thanks,” Nick said, giving Harry a smile before standing up. “I won’t take up too much of your time; I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but seriously, thank you for meeting with me.”

“Yeah, it was no problem,” Harry said politely. “And listen, if this doesn’t help things or if you’re genuinely scared or concerned or whatever with the messages you’ve been getting, just let me know and I can get you into contact with someone at the Yard who can help.”

“Thanks, I will,” Nick said, shoulders relaxing a little. “Nice to see you.”

“You too,” Harry said, standing up and giving Nick a quick hug, because that’s just the kind of person that Harry was.

With a small wave, Nick was off, and Harry walked home feeling lighter than he had in months.

**X**

In America, Louis and the boys were positively harassed by paparazzi and fans alike. Louis tried to tune them out, but every once in awhile they would say something that would get to him, make him pause and consider responding when Liam’s hand would land on his back comfortingly, reminding him to keep moving.

The morning after they arrived, they were leaving their hotel for rehearsals and just as Louis was getting into the car, he heard a paparazzo shout over the rest, “Louis, what do you think about Prince Harry getting together with Grimshaw?”

“What did he say?” Louis asked the others once they were safely inside of the car.

“Something about Harry and Grimmy?” Zayn said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Probably just talking nonsense, as ususal. I’d just ignore him.”

Louis frowned and pulled out his phone, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. Surely Harry wouldn’t get together with Nick after everything he’d put Harry through? That would be madness, and to get together in a public place? Harry would have to be out of his mind.

Still, the gnawing feeling in his stomach wouldn’t go away, so he typed into Google ‘Prince Harry and Nick Grimshaw’ and sure enough, the first few news stories to pop up were from gossip sites with pictures of Harry and Grimmy hugging that were dated _yesterday_.

What. The. Fuck.

Louis clenched his jaw and shoved his phone roughly back into his pocket. If Harry wanted to hang out with that douchebag, that was fine. Just. Fucking. Fine.

Louis was on edge for the rest of the day, and Liam and Zayn made the wise decision to steer clear of him, letting him work through his anger on his own. Usually that’s what Louis needed, but for some reason his anger wasn’t really going away, just simmering under the surface, waiting for Louis to explode.

That moment came after their performance at the Academy Awards. Louis and Zayn decided to skip any after parties, Louis because he was in a horrible mood and knew that he’d just generate more poor headlines by going out, and Zayn because he generally preferred to steer clear of large crowds as a rule. On their way back into their hotel, they had stopped to sign a couple of things for fans, which gave the paparazzi more time to try and goad a reaction out of them. The paparazzi didn’t disappoint, shouting out everything they could think of that might elicit a reaction.

“Louis, are you gay?”

“Louis were you cheating on Eleanor with Prince Harry?”

“Louis, Harry’s cheating on you with Nick Grimshaw, right?”

“Louis, is Prince Harry a good fuck?”

“Louis, Louis, Louis!”

“Louis, how does it feel to have your heart broken by the faggot Prince?”

Hearing that, Louis snapped.

“The fuck did you just say to me?” Louis asked, anger radiating from every pore.

“Lou, don’t, let’s just keep going,” Zayn implored, tugging on Louis arm, but he ripped it away roughly, stepping up to the paparazzo.

“You heard me,” the man said, a smug smile coming over his face as he snapped picture after picture. “The boybander and the Fairy Prince, not exactly a match made in heaven is it? Faggots.”

As the camera flashed in his face one more time, Louis lost it, grabbing the camera and smashing it on the ground before punching the man in the face.

“Show some fucking respect to the Prince of England you fucking prick!” Louis shouted as a security guard jumped into the mix and pulled Louis and Zayn to safety.

The second they were in the elevator Zayn turned to Louis.

“The fuck was that?! What happened to don’t engage, keep walking?” Zayn asked. “You’re gonna be in so much shit for that!”

“He fucking deserved it, didn’t he!” Louis protested.

“Of course! They all do! But you gotta think, Louis! You could be arrested for that, that’s assault!” Zayn said, concern written all over his face. “What’s gotten into you? You know better than that.”

Louis’ shoulders deflated as he closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the elevator.

“They had no right to bring Harry into it. I can handle it if it’s just me, but…” Louis trailed off. The thing was, Harry was kind of his baby. He just fucking adored Harry, really, and wanted to protect him from the world, from all of the people out to hurt him and use him. And what did Harry do the second Louis left the country? Have coffee with Nick Grimshaw. Louis had spent all day thinking that he was angry, but he realized suddenly that he wasn’t just angry. He was _hurt_.

“You love him, don’t you?” Zayn said softly.

“Course I do.”

“You know what I mean,” Zayn pushed. “You’re in love with him.”

“Course I am,” Louis responded with a self-deprecating laugh. “How could I not be?”

The elevator reached their floor and Zayn slung his arm around Louis’ shoulders, following Louis into his room.

“Not to be obvious or anything, but have you thought about telling him any of this?” Zayn asked, sitting down on the bed.

“What good would that do?” Louis asked morosely. “What would someone like him want with someone like me, anyway? I’m obscenely average, and he’s basically perfect. I’m about to go on a world tour, and he’s going off to uni in the fall. We’d never see each other, and one or both of us would end up hurting the other, and then not only would our relationship be ruined but our friendship as well. This is all assuming, of course, that he’d even want to date someone like me, which I highly doubt.”

“Bullshit,” Zayn scoffed.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot that you know everything,” Louis bit out sarcastically.

“Louis, any relationship could end like that. That’s a risk that you take by dating someone, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t date them! Using that logic, you shouldn’t date anyone ever because you might break up.”

“It’s more complicated than that,” Louis insisted.

“It isn’t!” Zayn said. “You’re scared, and I get that, but if you _love_ him, that doesn’t come around all the time, you know?”

“I know that,” Louis sighed, flopping down on the bed dramatically.

“Look, I know it sounds cheesy and stupid, but all I’m saying is that you don’t know unless you try. It could end horribly, yeah, or it could be the best thing you’ve ever done.”

“You’re right, that is incredibly cheesy and stupid,” Louis groaned, before looking at Zayn and letting out a soft, “Thanks.”

“Course,” Zayn scoffed before wisely changing topic. “Let’s order room service, I’m starving.”

After ordering entirely too much food and stress eating, Louis and Zayn were stretched out on Louis’ bed, watching TV.

“Harry’s the kind of guy I’d come out for,” Louis said softly, holding his breath as he waited for Zayn’s response.

Zayn turned to Louis with a grin on his face. “Good,” he said, “about fucking time.”

“Prick,” Louis laughed, but in that moment he didn’t think he could love his bandmate any more.

There was a beat, before Louis continued, “He could say no, you know.”

“Not in this world,” Zayn snorted. “That kid is head over heels in love with you, mate. Anyone with two eyes can see it.”

“I think that just makes it scarier, actually,” Louis mused.

“Good,” Zayn laughed. “It should.”

As much as Louis hated to admit it, sometimes Zayn was right.

Louis headed back to England the next day, and he contemplated texting Harry before his flight, but thought better of it and put his phone away. He still was stinging a bit from the hurt of seeing Harry and Grimmy together, and wanted to prolong the inevitable. If Harry _was_ seeing Nick again, Louis knew that meant that he’d missed his chance, and his heart would be absolutely broken. He couldn’t face that, not yet.

Needless to say, when he walked through the front door of his house later that day to find a furious Harry storming towards him, he was more than a little surprised.

“You _punched_ a photographer?!” Harry yelled, throwing a newspaper at Louis.

Louis shut the front door cautiously, putting down his luggage and taking off his jacket while looking at Harry in complete confusion.

“Um, hello?” Louis tried, before a thought struck him. “Wait, how did you get in my house?”

“Louis!” Harry yelled. “What were you _thinking_?!”

“I’m sorry,” Louis said harshly, suddenly feeling very defensive. Did Harry _seriously_ break into his house just to shout at him? And who was he to be throwing stones in the first place?! “I should probably be asking you the same thing, you hypocrite.”

“Me?!”

“Yes, _you_ ,” Louis spat. “Enjoy your date with Grimmy, did you?”

“What?” Harry asked, but refused to be thrown off track. “Don’t bring him into this, it’s not about that.”

“No, by all means, let’s talk about that. Because he’s _exactly_ the reason why this shit happened in the first place,” Louis bit out, genuinely pissed off. “Really appreciated the heads up, _mate_. If I’d known you were getting back together with your little ex-boyfriend then maybe I would have been a little more prepared when the paps threw that in my fucking face, you absolute _prick_!”

“I’m the prick? _I’m_ the prick?!” Harry asked incredulously. “We just went to get coffee, I wasn’t aware that I needed to run my schedule by you every morning.”

“I’m just asking for a little heads up the next time you plan to have pictures taken of you all over someone in Starbucks,” Louis spat, and he knew that it was a low blow but Harry was being completely unreasonable. 

“It was a hug!” Harry cried angrily. “And even if I was snogging him, or taking him to the bathroom and fucking blowing him what the fuck is it to you? You don’t get to do this, Lou! You made it very clear that you don’t want me and that’s fine, I can respect that, but you don’t get to be all shitty and start punching people when I do find someone who does!”

Louis’ heart stopped beating, and all he could do is stare at Harry incredulously and mumble, “What? Is that what you think?”

“Which part?” Harry asked, the scowl slowly easing from his face as the anger started to dissipate from the room.

“All of it,” Louis responded with a slight shake of his head in disbelief.

Harry stared at Louis blinking once, then twice, his mouth opening and closing like he was trying to find words to respond when Louis launched himself at Harry, pulling him in for a rough kiss. His lips covered Harry’s, moving furiously as he sucked Harry’s lower lip roughly between his teeth, making Harry groan. Louis’ hands went straight to Harry’s hips, squeezing them tightly as he pushed their bodies together.

The kiss wasn’t gentle—it wasn’t loving, or sweet. It was a kiss of pure need, and desire, and _four fucking months_ of lust and misunderstandings. Eventually the need for air became too much and Louis pulled away, pressing several quick, gentle kisses to Harry’s mouth as he pulled back, chest heaving with every breath.

Harry and Louis stared at each other breathlessly, and Louis belatedly realized that at some point during the kiss he’d pushed Harry up against the wall. Louis pulled back a little to let Harry up, and a grin spread across Harry’s face as he seemed to come back into himself. Harry’s smile widened, dimples showing as he started giggling, bowing his head into Louis’ shoulder in happy laughter, and Louis couldn’t help but join in as the two boys stood there in Louis’ front hall, giggling like maniacs, cuddled against the wall.

“I feel like I missed something,” Harry said after a minute, happy grin still on his face. “I thought you weren’t interested, but unless I’m misinterpreting what just happened it looks like I may have been wrong, so you’re gonna have to walk me through it.”

“Idiot,” Louis said affectionately. “First of all, we need to get one thing straight. There is not a human being on this earth more interested in you than me, understood?”

Harry nodded, letting out a happy giggle.

“Second, just to get this out of the way, please tell me there is nothing going on between you and Nick Grimshaw because it has been driving me absolutely mad for two days.”

“Now who’s the idiot?” Harry laughed. “Of course not! We really did just meet for coffee, the whole thing was maybe 15 minutes tops. He wanted to apologize, and I needed to let him, I think, if that makes any sense? I can’t promise I’ll never see him again because we do have some of the same friends, but my friendship with him is completely done. Is that really why you punched the pap?” Harry asked curiously.

“Not exactly,” Louis said, looking towards the floor in slight embarrassment. “I punched him because he deserved it.”

“I’m sure he did,” Harry said, nodding in solidarity, running a hand gently up and down Louis’ arm. “What did he say to you?”

“He said…just, he said some really fucking awful things about you. And you didn’t deserve it, and you weren’t even there in the first place, and it was just so fucking uncalled for. Plus I was already angry about seeing the pictures of you and Nick and I just snapped. I know it was stupid, and I usually don’t even pay much attention when they’re talking shit about _me_ , but it wasn’t me they were talking about this time, was it?”

Harry’s expression softened, and he looked at Louis’ with such enormous fondness that Louis thought his heart was going to melt right then and there.

“You punched a pap for me?” Harry asked, and damn it if he didn’t make it sound like the most romantic thing that anyone had ever done for him.

“I did,” Louis confirmed with a slight chuckle.

Harry’s grin widened and he pulled Louis toward him, lacing their fingers together as he leaned down for another kiss.

This kiss was quite different from their first, it was slow, and soft, and so utterly _Harry_ that Louis thought his heart might burst from it all.

Harry kissed Louis like Louis was the only man in the entire world. His lips were soft, and his tongue insistent, licking into Louis’ mouth, massaging his tongue with his own, nipping and sucking on Louis’ bottom lip.

Louis raised a hand up to tangle in Harry’s curls and Harry let out a soft breath at the contact, pulling their bodies closer together, making Louis gasp as their hips made contact. Harry kept up his slow, leisurely pace as his hands roamed Louis’ body, coming to rest on his ass, squeezing and grinding their hips together sporadically, not enough to bring any relief, but just enough to get Louis completely worked up until he felt like all of his nerve ends were on fire wherever Harry touched him.

Harry pulled back and pressed hot, wet kisses up and down Louis’ neck before saying, “Please, Lou, wanna suck you. Can I?” Harry asked, voice deeper and rougher than Louis had ever heard before, breath coming out in warm puffs against his neck.

“Jesus,” Louis groaned, rutting his hips against Harry’s at the thought. “God, yes,” he breathed.

Harry didn’t need to be told twice, he grabbed Louis and quickly dragged him upstairs into Louis’ bedroom, pulling Louis’ shirt off along with his own before pushing him down onto the bed insistently, hands fumbling with Louis’ trousers.

“Off, off,” Harry demanded, tugging at Louis’ trousers. Louis lifted his hips in compliance as Harry pulled off his trousers and boxers, leaving Louis completely naked. Harry moved back up Louis’ body and pressed their mouths together in an urgent kiss, trapping Louis’ hard cock in between their bodies, making Louis groan at the contact.

Harry’s jeans were still on his hips, but he had unzipped them, letting his swollen cock poke out. Louis rolled his hips up into Harry’s and both boys gasped as skin touched skin.

Harry reached down between them and wrapped his large hand over both of them, pulling them off together. Louis moaned and bucked into his hand and _fuck_ , how little it would take for him to get off just like this.

Harry, however, had not forgotten about his original plan and started sliding back down Louis’ body, nipping and sucking as he went. When he reached his destination, he pressed a soft kiss to the tip, eyes flicking up to watch Louis as he licked a stripe up the underside of his cock.

Louis let out a small gasp at the sensation as his eyes locked with Harry’s. Harry maintained eye contact as he continued licking and teasing Louis, rolling his tongue in wet circles around his head. Louis groaned at the teasing as his hips bucked involuntarily a couple of times. Harry used his hands to hold Louis’ hips down as he took Louis in his mouth, bobbing and sucking, tongue tracing patterns onto his dick.

Louis closed his eyes and threw his head back muttering “ _fuck,_ oh fuck, _Harry_ , so fucking good.”

Louis’ hand tangled itself in Harry’s curls and Harry let out a low moan, sending vibrations throughout Louis’ body.

When Louis looked back down at Harry, his eyes were still trained on Louis as his mouth expertly worked Louis’ dick. Louis noticed Harry’s arm was moving and saw that he had one hand wrapped around himself, pulling himself off, and _shit_ , Louis realized that Harry was getting himself off _watching_ Louis get off, and _fuck_ if that wasn’t the hottest thing he’s ever seen.

As if Harry was reading his thoughts, he took Louis down deeper, moaning as Louis hit the back of his throat, and _fuck, Jesus, shit_.

It wasn’t long before Louis panted, “Harry, _Harry_ , gonna—gonna come,” and Harry pulled back just a little, tongue making sinful circles around him, and Louis was done, coming hard in Harry’s mouth. Harry sucked him through his orgasm, swallowing as Louis came, only letting him out of his mouth once Louis stopped shuddering.

Harry leaned back on his knees and worked himself furiously, coming into his hand not ten seconds later.

“Could’ve done that for you,” Louis offered weakly.

“Wasn’t gonna last, wouldn’t have been worth it,” Harry admitted, breath coming out in heavy pants.

Harry got up and trudged into Louis’ bathroom to wash his hands, discarding his jeans and boxers along the way. Louis was sprawled out in bed when Harry walked back in, and Louis motioned him to come over. Harry lay down next to Louis, and Louis wrapped an arm around him.

“Jesus Christ, why have we not been doing that all along?” Louis laughed.

“I would have blown you in the toilet on day one if you’d just asked,” Harry admitted with a grin.

“Not exactly the kind of thing one usually says to a prince.”

“You’d be surprised,” Harry laughed. “I’ve gotten quite a few propositions, thank you very much.”

“That I believe,” Louis said, still coming down from his high, turning to Harry and running a hand gently through his curls.

“What made you change your mind?” Harry asked softly, leaning into Louis’ touch. “I thought you didn’t want me?”

“It was never about changing my mind,” Louis admitted. “I always knew what I wanted; it was more about convincing myself that I could have it, if that makes sense?”

“You have me,” Harry said fondly, cuddling close into Louis as Louis pulled the duvet over them. “Do I have you?”

“You’ve always had me,” Louis admitted, a soppy grin overtaking his face. “I’m not going anywhere.”

And yeah, the problems and complications that Louis had been so concerned about were still there, and they had a lot left that they needed to talk about. But, with Harry curled up beside him, naked and gorgeous and _his_ , Louis figured that those things could wait. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	6. VI

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments!! I'm so glad that people are enjoying the story! Here's another chapter for you all, Happy New Year!

Harry woke up slightly disoriented. He wasn’t in his bed, and he was definitely naked. It only took his brain a second to catch up with his body, however, and a broad grin spread across his face as he remembered exactly _whose_ bed he was in.

Harry opened his eyes and was met with the back of Louis’ head, hair tousled from sleep. Harry was spooned against his back, their legs tangled together, and Louis had a firm grip on Harry’s arm, which was slung over Louis’ ribcage.

Harry wanted to laugh at the sheer madness of it all. He and Louis were spooning, they were actually _properly_ spooning.  _Naked_ and spooning, mind you. Harry had never spooned with another human being in his life, never even really wanted to, the idea of sleeping so close to another person made him feel crowded and uncomfortable, but he and Louis seemed to gravitate toward each other in their sleep.

Harry took a minute to admire Louis’ sleeping form before carfully extracting himself from the other boy’s grip and slowly getting out of bed. As he was looking for his boxers, he thought briefly that he would be totally fine waking up like that for the rest of his life, and _shit_ , if that wasn’t a serious thought. Too serious, probably, but then again Harry had never been the kind of person to do things halfway. When he was in love, he was _in love_ , and he was fairly certain that he’d never loved another human being quite like he loved Louis.

He hadn’t actually told any of that to Louis, however, because he wasn’t trying to scare him off, but the thoughts still lingered.

Louis was the kind of person he could spend forever with.

Harry found his boxers and pulled them on, pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans that were still lying on the floor. He checked the time, 9:47am, and decided that he’d let Louis sleep in a bit. He had just gotten back from an eleven hour flight, after all, and had to be pretty tired.

He wandered out into the living room, and sent off a text to Gemma, indulging in his giddiness just a little.

**Harry**   
_Sooo I might possibly have a boyfriend? :D_

Gemma’s response came only a couple of seconds later.

**Gemma**   
_STOP IT! HARRY EDWARD STYLES. GET OUT!!!!_

There was a beat, and then another message came through.

**Gemma  
** _I’m absolutely flipping out for you!!!!! It’s about time you and Louis stopped pining after each other! It was getting quite sickening, honestly._

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes. It wasn’t _that_ bad!

**Harry  
** _You’re so dramatic! And who said it was Louis? It could be anyone._

**Gemma  
** _Please, I’m not an idiot. You’ve been absolutely lovesick over that boy for MONTHS. If it’s not Louis, I swear I’m going to throw myself off of a tall building. I didn’t endure months of pining only for you to end up with someone else!_

**Harry  
** _Of course it’s Louis, but you’re taking all the fun out of the reveal! And we’re not like official yet or anything, but I’m pretty sure we’re headed that way?_

And then, just to be a little shit, Harry added one more message.

**Harry  
** _At least, I hope so after last night ;)_

Harry practically cackled with laughter when he read Gemma’s next text. No matter how old he got, he’d never be too old to enjoy annoying his older sister.

**Gemma  
** _…I hate you._

A minute later, one last text came through that made Harry’s heart swell with affection.

**Gemma  
** _Intimate details of your love life aside, I am so, so, so happy for you. Love you, you ridiculous dork._

**Harry  
** _Love you too :) And don’t tell anyone yet, yeah? I wanna talk to him first and get on the same page before we do anything crazy like tell mum._

**Gemma  
** _Your secret is safe with me._

Harry busied himself by turning on the television, being sure to keep it on a low volume so as not to wake Louis, and heading into the kitchen to make tea. He knew that Louis would want some when he finally woke up.

It turned out that Harry didn’t have to wait too long, right around 10:30 Louis wandered downstairs, clad only in boxers and still wrapped in his duvet.

“Morning sleeping beauty,” Harry teased.

“Bed was cold without you,” Louis huffed, trudging over to where Harry was sprawled out on the couch, lying directly on top of him so they both were covered with the duvet.

“What’s this?” Harry laughed, taking in the scene. “I get out of bed, so you bring bed to me?”

“Yes,” Louis said, sleepy and serious. “You can’t get out of bed until I’m awake too, it’s a rule. So rude, Harold, honestly.”

“Bit pushy, aren’t we?” Harry teased, pressing a kiss to Louis’ forehead. “I made you tea, if that makes up for it?”

“You did?” Louis questioned happily, raising his head up enough to look at Harry through one half-opened eye.

“I did,” Harry confirmed with a grin, unbridled affection for the sleepy boy on top of him running through every bone in his body.

Louis let out a happy sigh at Harry’s answer, laying his head back down on Harry’s shoulder and pressing a warm kiss into Harry’s neck.

“Best boyfriend ever,” Louis muttered.

“Is that what we are?” Harry asked, trying to seem calm while his heart was hammering in his chest waiting for Louis’ response.

Louis picked his head back up, resting his chin on his hand.

“We are whatever you want us to be,” Louis answered, with such open honesty and vulnerability that Harry briefly considered confessing his love right then and there.

Instead, Harry responded with a grin and said “I think boyfriends is a good place to start.”

“Then that’s what we are,” Louis said, giving Harry a happy, crinkly-eyed smile before laying his head back down on Harry’s shoulder and saying, “But, just a fair warning, I’m not exactly dream boyfriend material. I’m really messy, I’m late to absolutely everything, I talk too much, I’m going on a world tour in a month, and I’m very possessive.”

Harry giggled at Louis’ brash description of himself, but sensed a real vulnerability beneath the words, so he responded with, “that actually sounds kind of perfect because I’m pretty clean, I have the capability to travel the world to see you while you’re on tour, and I’m pretty clingy.”

“Well when you put it that way, we kind of fit perfectly,” Louis laughed.

“We do,” Harry confirmed, and despite himself let out a small yawn. “Ugh, you’re making me sleepy again!”

“Good,” Louis said, cuddling closer into Harry. “More sleep is always good. Come to the dark side.”

“I’d go anywhere with you,” Harry said simply, and Louis snorted out a laugh at the cheesiness of the line, but it was true.

When Harry woke up again, an hour had passed, and Louis was sitting up at the end of the couch tapping away at his phone.

“Hi,” Harry said, sitting up and stretching.

“Good morning,” Louis responded, a soft smile on his face as he leaned over to capture Harry’s lips in a soft kiss. “Thanks for letting me sleep a little longer, I really needed it.”

“Course,” Harry responded. “Think I needed it too, to be honest.”

“Are you hungry? Because I’m absolutely starving.”

“I could eat. I’m not even going to ask if you have any food here, because we both know what the answer is,” Harry laughed. “Do you wanna go somewhere?”

“We could,” Louis answered, after a slight hesitation.

“Or we could order in?” Harry tried, slightly unsure.

“No,” Louis backtracked. “It’s fine, we can go out. It’s just…nevermind, I’m being stupid.”

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Well, there’s a lot that we need to talk about; a lot that probably _should_ be talked about before we go out in public together, and I just…I know that once we walk out the door and get photographed I’m gonna immediately have meetings lined up with management and we’re going to be hounded by reporters, and this won’t be _ours_ anymore. And I hate that; I don’t want to have to meet with my management company about my relationship like it’s some kind of—of _business transaction_ ,” Louis explained.

“We don’t have to act any differently when we go out,” Harry offered, “we can just act like we always have.”

“No,” Louis said softly, taking Harry’s right hand in his own, looking down as he played with Harry’s fingers. “Haz, you _just_ came out. I’m not gonna be the one to force you back in. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it properly.”

Harry’s heart started hammering in his chest as he stared at Louis in amazement. Louis basically just admitted that he’d come out for Harry, for their relationship.

“And like, I know that it’s necessary to talk about all of this, and talk to management, I really do get that, but I dunno, I just…I’m like, _really, really_ happy right now.” Louis continued. “And, I just want to keep that to myself for awhile, I guess? Not that I want to keep _you_ a secret or anything, not at all,” Louis said hurriedly, and Harry’s face broke into a smile as he kissed Louis, cutting him off mid-sentence.

“I understand completely,” Harry said reassuringly. “And you’re right; we deserve some time to enjoy this before we let the rest of the world in.”

“Exactly,” Louis said, clearly relieved that Harry understood where he was coming from.

“I have an idea,” Harry said brightly, the plan already formulated in his mind. “How about I go to the shops and pick up enough food to last us for a couple of days? You can stay here and unpack from your trip, and then when I get back we can just hole up here together. Then when we’re ready we can talk strategy.”

“That sounds amazing,” Louis said honestly, fixing Harry with a warm smile. “Thank you.”

Louis pulled Harry in for a happy kiss as if to accentuate the point.

Harry ran upstairs to get dressed, throwing on his jeans that were lying in the middle of the floor, then hesitated a moment before heading to Louis’ closet and picking out a shirt to wear. He didn’t really want to wear his dirty shirt from yesterday, and it was totally cliché, but he really liked the idea of wearing his boyfriend’s clothes.

Harry decided on a shirt and pulled it over his head before turning and heading back downstairs.

“Is that my shirt?” Louis asked, standing up from the couch and walking Harry to the front door.

“It’s mine now,” Harry answered cheekily.

“Looks good on you,” Louis responded with a grin, pulling Harry in for a kiss that quickly turned passionate. When they broke away, Louis tugged playfully on Harry’s shirt before saying, “now hurry back so I can get you out of it.”

Harry’s trip to the store should have taken about thirty minutes. He made it home in twenty.

When he walked back into Louis’ house, he found Louis in the kitchen cleaning out the cupboard.

“Hey babe,” Harry said, placing the groceries on the table and observing the scene in front of him. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning,” Louis said, throwing a tin into the trash bin. “I figured if you were bringing home food I might as well clear out the cupboard. Since I haven’t been home much this past year, most of the food in here is way beyond expired.”

“Louis Tomlinson, doing a domestic chore?” Harry teased, gasping playfully.

“Shut up,” Louis laughed, hitting Harry in the stomach. “I believe I was promised food, and it is now officially lunch time, and I am officially starving.”

“You’re going to be a demanding boyfriend, aren’t you?” Harry teased.

“Don’t even pretend like you didn’t know what you were getting yourself into,” Louis said, feigning offense. “I might be slightly demanding at times, but I will repay you with sexual favors so it all evens out in the end.”

“I can live with that,” Harry laughed.

Harry made them lunch, and they ate it in their usual spot, on the living room couch in front of the television. Louis was rambling on, giving his usual commentary, and Harry couldn’t help but smile. He loved that things between them hadn’t changed _too_ much—that things didn’t become awkward or uncomfortable, but instead they were still able to tease each other and joke around, only now they were able to touch and kiss each other whenever they wanted.

It was kind of perfect, really, because there was not a moment that went by where Harry didn’t want to be touching Louis. So, he did.

Harry leaned over and started kissing a hot trail up Louis’ neck, making Louis’ grab onto his arm and forget about his commentary.

“Think you mentioned something about getting me out of this shirt?” Harry mumbled into Louis’ skin, and Louis let out a throaty chuckle.

“You’re gonna be a demanding boyfriend, aren’t you?” Louis teased.

“Insatiable,” Harry promised, slipping his hands underneath Louis’ shirt and rubbing the smooth skin on his sides. “M’gonna be completely honest right now. These next few days we’re taking off of real life? They should be spent in bed.”

“Yes, please,” Louis responded breathlessly, before crashing his mouth onto Harry’s, kissing him passionately, stubble rubbing up against Harry’s face as their mouths moved together and _fuck_ , Harry didn’t think he’d ever get tired of the way Louis’ tongue tangled with his.

Louis’ hands were on him immediately, pulling off his shirt and roaming over every inch of bare skin. Harry threw his head back as Louis’ mouth moved to his neck, kissing and nipping at the exposed skin. Louis’ mouth continued to move downward, and Harry let out an audible moan as Louis sucked a mark into his collarbone. There was something about knowing that Louis had _marked_ him that had Harry’s blood flowing south, and his dick twitched in his jeans in anticipation.

Louis, for his part, seemed to be in no rush, taking his time to explore Harry’s body. His hands were _everywhere_ , rubbing and stroking and squeezing while his mouth seemed determined to taste every last inch of Harry’s torso until Harry’s hips were bucking up, his cock aching and begging to be freed from his jeans.

Louis took the hint and unbuttoned Harry’s jeans, pulling them, along with his boxers, down as far as he could while his tongue traced wet circles around Harry’s left nipple. Louis removed his mouth from Harry’s chest with a pop and leaned back to pull Harry’s jeans off the rest of the way. Louis took his time, admiring the view as he went, gently tugging Harry’s jeans off one leg at a time. Harry could feel the heat rising in his cheeks just from the way Louis was looking at him, like he was some kind of priceless piece of art that Louis wasn’t quite sure how he had stolen.

“God, Haz,” Louis breathed, hands running up and down Harry’s thighs. “So fucking beautiful.”

And that was just…Louis didn’t describe him as sexy, or gorgeous, or hot, or the plethora of other words Harry has had showered upon him during sex with other partners. No, Louis described him as _beautiful_ , and that was just…it was almost too much to take, really.

Harry sat up and crashed his lips into Louis’ desperately, breaking the kiss only to tug at Louis’ shirt, pulling it roughly over the older boy’s head. Harry’s kisses were frantic, his cock swollen and crying for attention, beads of precum glistening at the tip. Louis’ seemed to sense Harry’s desperation, reaching down and wrapping a hand around him, moving it up and down at a leisurely pace before breaking the kiss and moving Harry so that he was sitting up straight on the couch, while Louis dropped to his knees in front of him and _fuck_ if that wasn’t the hottest thing that Harry had ever seen.

If Harry thought that Louis was going to finally pick up the pace, then he was wrong. Louis licked a circle around the head of Harry’s cock, pulling off only to lean back down and repeat the motion several more times, and _of course_ Louis was just as much of a tease in bed as he was in real life, and as Harry let out a low whimper at the loss of contact as Louis pulled back _again_ , Harry had to admit that he fucking loved it. Every nerve ending in Harry’s body was on fire as Louis licked and sucked so slowly, until he had Harry a quivering, mumbling mess, practically _begging_ for it.

“Tell me what you want,” Louis said, voice low and raw, and suddenly it just wasn’t enough, Harry wanted _moremoremore_ ; he wanted everything, all of Louis, wanted to leave him wrecked and thoroughly fucked beneath him.

“ _More,_ ” Harry begged, no longer caring how desperate he sounded. “Want you, wanna fuck you, _please_.”

“ _God,_ yes,” Louis breathed.

“Do you have stuff?” Harry asked, moving in to kiss Louis’ now unoccupied lips.

“Upstairs,” Louis managed to get out in between kisses.

Harry didn’t need to be told twice, grabbing Louis and practically dragging him up the stairs and into the bedroom. Louis reached into the drawer on his nightstand and pulled out lube and a condom, tossing them on the bed.

Harry took advantage of the fact that Louis was standing to tug down the sweatpants and boxers that Louis was wearing, giving him an opportunity to step out of them before practically tackling him back onto the bed.

Almost immediately Louis started writhing underneath him, as desperate for friction as Harry was. Harry ground his hips down into Louis’, eliciting a sinful moan from the older boy.

“Gonna make you feel so good,” Harry promised, grabbing the lube and coating his fingers before leaning down to suck a hickey into Louis’ hip.

Louis let out a moan as Harry pressed kisses across Louis’ abdomen while his hand found it’s way to Louis’ hole, pressing one finger in gently, groaning as he felt the tight heat surrounding his finger. Harry took his time, letting Louis get used to the slide of his finger before adding another, crooking his fingers until they found that spot that had Louis crying out.

“ _God,_ right there,” Louis panted.

Harry moved his fingers, scissoring and stretching Louis, brushing his prostate with every twitch of his fingers. Harry was mesmerized by the feel of his fingers in Louis, sliding out slightly only to be sucked back in. Slowly, he added a third finger, which had Louis grinding his hips down, fucking himself on Harry’s fingers.

“Fuck, shit Harry, so good,” Louis babbled. “I’m ready, m’ready, _please_.”

Harry pulled his fingers out, wiping them on the sheets before reaching for the condom, tearing it open quickly and rolling it on, coating himself generously in lube.

“How do you want it?” Harry asked.

“Like this,” Louis panted, still on his back. “Wanna see you.”

Harry leaned down to kiss Louis once more, and Louis’ hands immediately tangled themselves in his hair. Louis tugged at his hair slightly, and Harry bit back a moan before pulling back and positioning himself at Louis’ entrance.  

Pushing in, Harry’s head sagged and his eyes closed as he let out a low moan because _fuck_ , Louis was so tight. Harry opened his eyes to check on Louis, who gave him an encouraging nod as he pushed deeper and deeper into him until he was completely buried.

“Jesus, Lou, so tight,” Harry moaned. “You okay?” he checked.

“M’good,” Louis confirmed, letting out a string of expletives as Harry pulled back experimentally before rocking his hips back in, hitting his prostate after a couple of thrusts.

“There?” Harry asked, rocking his hips and hitting the spot again.

“God, fuck, yes, Jesus,” Louis panted, rocking his hips to meet Harry’s thrusts.

Harry worked his hips into a rhythm, pounding into Louis as he mumbled, “Wanna hear you. Fuck, Lou, so good, so fucking good.” 

Louis let go at Harry’s request, crying out with every thrust as Harry started rocking faster and faster, pounding Louis’ prostate at a merciless pace.

“Fuck, not—not gonna last much longer,” Harry groaned as he reached out and wrapped a hand around Louis, jerking him off at the same frantic speed he was fucking him.

“Oh, oh, _yes, fuck, yes,_ ” Louis cried, head thrown back and mouth hanging open in ecstasy as Harry continued his assault on his body.

“Come on, come for me,” Harry panted, thumb teasing Louis’ slit. Louis came with a shout, cock pulsing as long streams of come shot out across his stomach, muscles clenching around Harry as Harry’s hips stuttered through his own orgasm.

They clung onto each other until they stopped shuttering, pressing soft, light, thankful kisses into each other’s skin. Harry pulled out of Louis and rolled onto his back, taking a moment to catch his breath, legs still too wobbly to move.

“So,” Louis said, trying to calm his own breathing, “do you think we’re sexually compatible, then?”

They broke out into a fit of giggles, and Harry thought his heart would burst from the weight of how _much_ he loved Louis in that moment.

“Idiot,” Harry said fondly. Louis responded only by flashing him a cheeky grin before his eyes softened and he reached out to stroke Harry’s hair, tucking a stray curl behind his ear, and Harry couldn’t think of a single reason why they should ever get out of bed again.

Harry and Louis spent the next couple of days mostly naked, as Harry requested, only leaving the bed to make food or shower. They laughed about it being a beginning of the relationship honeymoon, of sorts, and those few days were some of the happiest of Harry’s life, spent wrapped around the boy he loved, getting to know each other on a deeper, more intimate level.

During those hours spent wrapped up in each other, Harry learned. Harry learned more about Louis’ childhood, about how his dad left him and he grew up with this constant nagging fear that there was something inside of him that drove people away. Harry learned that Louis’ first relationship ended quickly after his stint on the X Factor, and that he hadn’t had any true, long-term relationships since then—the closeting, bearding, and distance being too much for any boy to handle.

In comparison, Harry also shared. He told Louis about how he and Nick would casually hook up, and how Harry tried so hard to be calm about it and act like it didn’t affect him because Nick was older and more mature and seemed so much cooler at the time. Harry told him about how betrayed he felt, how hurt and stupid and _childish_ he felt when those pictures came out. Harry told Louis about his past relationships, if you could even call them that, few as they were. Harry told him about how careful and cautious he had to be around boys just so he wouldn’t be outed, and how that made it so difficult to find anyone who was willing to put up with the trouble.

Even though Harry and Louis already knew a great deal about each other, Harry discovered that there was still so much more to learn and share, and he _loved_ that. He loved that every other thing out of Louis’ mouth surprised him. He loved that Louis was so open with him, so honest about _everything_ —his past, his fears, their future.

Harry loved Louis, plain and simple. Although Harry and Louis had told each other ‘I love you’ a thousand times before, it was always in the context of a ‘love you, mate’ or ‘love and miss you!’ or just ‘love you!’. Harry was _in love_ with Louis, though, and that was quite a different thing altogether. It was almost agonizing how much he wanted to tell him; to whisper it into his hair, breathe it into his mouth, mark it onto his skin, but Harry refrained. To be honest, this was all so new to him. It was the first _proper_ relationship he’d ever had, really, and he was deeply, secretly terrified of coming on too strong and too fast and scaring Louis away.

It was the third day of their secret vacation (because Louis refused to call it a staycation) when Harry finally cracked. They’d had two perfect, absolutely wonderful days together, but they were starting to run out of food and time.

“We probably have to get back to the real world soon, don’t we?” Louis asked softly, pressing a kiss to Harry’s bicep. It was mid-afternoon, and they had just finished eating a late lunch. They were snuggled together on the couch underneath some blankets.

“We probably should,” Harry agreed. “My mum is starting to suspect that something’s up.”

“Yeah, the lads are getting quite suspicious as well. They wanted to come check on me, but I told them that I was with you, and since they haven’t heard from me since, they’ve probably already put two and two together.”

“So, is this when we have the talk?” Harry asked playfully.

“You mean the ‘we’re famous and can’t have a normal relationship to save our lives so let’s outline the terms talk?’” Louis asked cheekily. “Now’s as good a time as any, I suppose.”

Louis crossed his legs and turned on the couch so that he was facing Harry.

“Alright Harold,” he said in mock seriousness. “Name your terms. I should warn you that I have no dowry and my mother can only offer three sheep and a horse.”

“Relationship’s off, then,” Harry laughed.

“It was fun while it lasted,” Louis teased.

“Heeey!” Harry drawled, feigning offence. “Seriously though, Lou, I wasn’t kidding before. We can handle this however you want to. Whatever you’re comfortable with, really.”

“I think,” Louis started, taking a second to compose his thoughts. “I think that it would be horrible to go outside and not be able to do something as simple as hold your hand if I want to. I’m so sick of pretending to be someone I’m not, and I don’t want that for us. It feels wrong, you know? You shouldn’t be anyone’s dirty little secret, least of all mine.”

Harry felt a pressure in his chest form upon hearing Louis’ words, and for a second he was afraid that he was going to do something ridiculous like start crying. Because _this_ is what he’d been waiting his whole life for. For someone who wasn’t afraid of him, or ashamed of him, or using him. For someone who just _wanted_ him, wanted to _be_ with him.

“I love you,” Harry whispered, words already formed before his brain could catch up with his mouth.

“I love you too,” Louis said simply, shooting Harry a crinkly eyed smile like it was no big deal, like they’d said it thousands of times before.

“No, I mean, I’m _in_ love with you,” Harry said, figuring that if he’d already come this far he might as well get it off of his chest.

Louis furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Harry curiously before chuckling, “Yeah, obviously. What did you think I meant?”

Now it was Harry’s turn to be confused.

“I just…we’ve never said it in that way before,” Harry clarified, the words sounding stupid as soon as he heard them come out of his mouth. “I mean, we’ve said I love you, just never like, in that context?” He tried again.

“True,” Louis acknowledged. “But, that’s kind of what we’ve been saying all along, though, isn’t it?”

And, yeah, Louis had him there.

“I love you,” Harry said again, because _God,_ it felt good to say.

“Love you too, you ridiculous girl,” Louis teased, but he kissed Harry anyway.

“Mum and Gemma will want to meet you,” Harry said. “Since we’re talking about terms and all.”

“Well that shouldn’t be too intimidating at all, now should it?” Louis laughed.

“You’ll love them,” Harry promised.

“I’m sure I will, they just might not love me,” Louis said seriously.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Harry scoffed. “What’s not to love?”

“So, so much,” Louis said self-deprecatingly, before trying to make a joke, saying, “You’ll find out in time.”

“Hey,” Harry said seriously. “They already love you. After everything you’ve done for me, how could they not?”

“What are you talking about?” Louis asked, confused, and Harry’s eyes widened with a start as he realized that Louis genuinely had _no_ idea how much he’d done for Harry, how much he’d _been_ to Harry.

“How could you really not know?” Harry asked in bewilderment. “Louis, you…you were like my light at the end of the tunnel. You came along right as the world was closing in on me, and made me feel _normal_ and _accepted_ , and…you just made me feel like I could do anything, take on the world if I had to. You were so proud of me, and helped make me proud of me too, you know? And I’ve just been so stupidly in love with you from the second we met, and you never took advantage of me, not once, even when I gave you ample opportunities to. And even when I thought that you didn’t want to be with me, I just kept thinking that maybe one day I’d be able to meet someone _like_ you, that maybe I deserved more than I’d been allowing myself to have.”

“Hazza,” Louis said, visibly touched by Harry’s words.

“Like that,” Harry said. “You’re the first person that I haven’t known since infancy who felt comfortable enough with me to give me a nickname. It sounds silly, but it’s stuff like that that just means so much.”

Louis looked at Harry in stunned silence before saying, “You know that I wasn’t trying to reject you that night at the club, right?”

Harry laughed because _of course_ that would be the one thing that Louis fixated on.

“Yeah, _now_ ,” Harry teased. “I was devastated at the time, though, convinced myself that I had blown it with you. Niall had to knock some sense into me and pointed out that I was acting like a drunken idiot and it would have been even worse tabloid fodder if we left together than when I was caught with Nick.”

“I felt awful saying no,” Louis admitted. “But you were nineteen, and I thought that you were just trying to be nineteen and live it up, and I didn’t want to cause you any more trouble in the media. Plus I knew that I could never _just_ sleep with you. I’d always want more from you than that, and I figured that there was no way you’d ever actually want to date someone like me, so I was trying to, I dunno, preserve our friendship, I guess,” Louis explained.

“Good intentions, but we’re about to cause a media frenzy, aren’t we?”  Harry laughed.

“Probably,” Louis giggled. “I still have to talk to management and the boys and see how they want to handle everything, but I have the strong feeling that I’m going to be hearing the words Larry Stylinson quite a bit in our upcoming interviews.”

“Do you think they’ll want you to issue a statement?” Harry asked curiously.

“Eventually. My guess is that if they get their way we’ll be in a sort of glass closet for a couple of months to try and gauge the public reaction before issuing any kind of official statement or interview.”

“And if you get your way?” Harry prompted.

“Issue a statement that says I’m gay, I’m in love with Prince Harry, now kindly fuck off,” Louis laughed.

“If only,” Harry giggled, reaching out and petting Louis’ hair fondly. Louis leaned into the touch and snuggled into Harry, pulling out his phone and opening up twitter.

“I feel like we should tweet something to commemorate these last couple of days,” Louis said thoughtfully.

“Like what?” Harry asked.

“Dunno. Something vague enough that it’s not too obvious, but related enough that people could connect the dots if they squint,” Louis said.

Harry pulled out his phone and stared at the keyboard, lips pursed in thought.

“Oh, I know,” Harry said suddenly, typing out a tweet before showing it to Louis.

**Harry Styles**  
@Louis_Tomlinson :D

“That’s perfect!” Louis laughed, before sending out a corresponding tweet.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
@Harry_Styles ;)

“That should certainly increase fan speculation,” Harry said with a laugh.

One thing was for sure, they were definitely going to have a crazy couple of weeks ahead of them.

**X**

Louis met with management the following day, along with Zayn and Liam. When he had told the other two boys what had happened, they were beyond thrilled for him and insisted on coming to the meeting as a show of support for Louis’ decision.

For three young boys who were thrown together on a talent competiton, Louis honestly couldn’t love them more. He was so grateful for their success, of course, but even more grateful for their friendship.

“Good morning, boys,” Rebecca, their PR representative greeted as they walked into her office. “What can I do for you?”

Louis felt himself hesitating, before Liam put a strong hand on his shoulder and said, “Louis has an announcement, of sorts.”

“Harry and I are dating,” Louis said, shooting Liam a grateful smile.

“Okay,” Rebecca acknowledged, before asking, “how would you like to move forward?”

And, wow. That threw Louis off guard a bit. He wasn’t used to being asked how he’d like to maintain his image…a small part of him had been terrified that he’d come out of the meeting with management trying to force another beard on him.

“Well, I’d—I’d like to come out, I guess?” Louis said nervously, before shaking his head and taking a stronger approach. “I need to come out. I don’t want to keep my relationship a secret.”

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Rebecca questioned, although not unkindly. “One Direction is huge right now, and I don’t think that it will have too much of a detrimental effect to the band as a whole in the long run, although there _will_ be backlash. For all of you.”

“We know that,” Zayn said supportively. “People already say horrible stuff to us and about us, it doesn’t matter.”

“I just want to prepare you,” Rebecca said. “People saying things based off of rumors or lies is one thing, but when you receive hatred based on a specific, very real part of you, that can hurt much worse.”

“I know,” Louis said, letting out a shaky breath. “I can handle it.”

“I’m sure you can,” Rebecca said encouragingly. “And it won’t be all bad; there are already a large portion of fans that are very supportive of your relationship with the prince.”

“Larry Stylinson,” Liam laughed. “Very creative of them.”

“So what happens now?” Louis asked.

“There are a couple of different ways that we can handle this,” Rebecca said slowly, gathering her thoughts together. “We could handle your coming out and your dating Prince Harry as two separate events, issuing a statement about your sexuality and scheduling a couple of interviews before you and Harry are seen in public together, giving it a couple of weeks before you confirm that you’re dating. Or, we could address them together, and issue a statement about your sexuality and then in one of the scheduled interviews you could confirm that you’re dating Prince Harry.”

“I think I’d prefer the second one,” Louis said carefully. “I just…I’m surprised; no glass closet?” Louis asked.

“You’re leaving for tour in a little over a month, and I assume that you’d like to have this all addressed before then, am I correct?” Rebecca said rationally. “Under ordinary circumstances we would recommend a bit more time to get the public used to the idea, get their interest piqued, but really the public is already quite interested in your relationship with Prince Harry anyway, so I don’t think that would help us in this particular case.”

“So that’s it?” Louis asked, dumbfounded. “I can just…come out?”

“Yes,” Rebecca confirmed.

“When?” Louis asked, a disbelieving smile overtaking his face.

“We can have a statement prepared and interviews scheduled by the end of the week. We can release the statement Monday morning, and you can do interviews next week. You all will need to come back in for a briefing before any of the interviews take place so we can have our stories straight with regard to Eleanor and your previous management,” Rebecca said.

“That sounds great, really, thank you,” Louis breathed, and Zayn put an arm around him, squeezing his side tightly.

The meeting wrapped up quickly, with plans to meet again on Monday morning before going to television interviews.

When they were out of the office and in the elevator, Zayn and Liam turned to hug him tightly.

“So happy for you, Tommo,” Liam said fondly.

“Proud of you, mate,” Zayn echoed.

“Love you boys,” Louis said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I need to go back to Doncaster for a couple of days. I have to let my family know I’m doing this, and it’s not something that should be done over the phone.” Louis chewed his lip nervously. Tour rehearsals were supposed to start in a couple of days.

“Go ahead,” Liam said kindly. “If you miss the first rehearsal it’s no big deal. We’ll catch you up.”

“Thanks, mate,” Louis said gratefully.

After getting into his car to head home, Louis called Harry.

“Hi, you,” Harry answered after a couple of rings.

“I’m coming out,” Louis said with a happy grin, barely even able to believe it himself. “Like, properly coming out.”

“Wow,” Harry breathed, and Louis could hear his smile over the phone. “I take it the meeting went well, then?”

“Incredibly,” Louis responded. “They were very open, and said that I can release a statement Monday morning and that they’ll line up interviews and stuff for us to do. Then that will be that.”

“Congratulations,” Harry said proudly, and Louis couldn’t help but feel proud as well. It had certainly been a long time coming.

Louis heard commotion in the background, along with Niall’s distinctive laughter.

“Having a party, Haz?” Louis teased.

Louis heard a muffled female voice in the background ask, “Is that Louis? Tell him to come over! I want to meet him!”

“Sorry,” Harry apologized. “Gemma, Mum and I are having a family day that Niall crashed, as usual,” Harry teased. “If you’re not busy you could join us?”

“I don’t wanna interrupt your family time,” Louis said.

“No, please, Mum and Gemma are dying to meet you,” Harry said sincerely. “You don’t have to stay long, I promise.”

“Harry,” Louis tried again, because Harry didn’t seem to understand that he was talking about meeting the _Queen of England_. “I’m just in jeans and I haven’t shaved in over a week, it would take me ages to get ready to meet the Queen.

“Louis,” Harry said seriously. “I’m sure you look perfect, as usual. Besides, you’re not meeting the Queen, you’re meeting my mum.”

“That might be worse,” Louis teased. “I’m _really_ underdressed to meet the parents.”

“Shut up and get over here,” Harry laughed.

“If His Highness commands it,” Louis teased, before turning a corner. “I’m on my way.”

Meeting Queen Anne, Princess Gemma, and Harry’s stepfather Robin was nowhere near as painful as Louis had expected it to be. Harry was right, outside of their official duties they really were just Harry’s mum, sister, and stepfather, taking delight in teasing Harry mercilessly. Plus, Niall was there, who had an uncanny ability to put an entire room at ease the second he opened his mouth.

“So Harry tells us that we should be looking for some big news on Monday morning,” Anne said with a warm smile.

“Looks like it,” Louis nodded, trying to hold back his own grin.

“Good for you,” Gemma said encouragingly.

“Would it be weird of me to say that I’m a little nervous?” Louis admitted.

“Not at all, darling,” Anne said.

“Yeah, I thought Harry was going to vomit before his first television interview,” Gemma teased.

“Excuse me, I’d like to see how _you_ react the next time you do something that groundbreaking,” Harry said, making a face at his sister childishly.

“Well you’ve certainly set the bar high for the rest of us, haven’t you, Curly?” Gemma laughed, but Louis could see the pride evident in her eyes.

Louis planned to only stay for a little while, long enough to say hello and (hopefully) make a good impression, but Louis found himself falling into their easy banter, laughing and joking along with the rest of the family. Before he knew it, he had stayed for dinner and beyond.

Niall was lounging in an oversized chair, and Anne was curled up into Robin’s side on one end of a couch, with Gemma sitting on the other end. Harry and Louis had taken up residence on the second couch, sitting close together but not quite cuddling. Louis could see that Anne was getting tired and took that as his cue to head home as he looked at the clock and noticed that it was nearing 10pm.

“Hazza, I should go, love,” Louis said softly. Harry nodded his head and squeezed Louis’ arm as Louis stood from the couch, moving to address the rest of Harry’s family. “It was so lovely to meet you, thank you so much for having me over.”

“It was our pleasure, darling,” Anne said, rising from the couch and moving to hug Louis tightly. “Don’t be a stranger,” Anne said sincerely.

“I won’t,” Louis promised, heart clenching at just how lovely Harry’s family really was. He had gone over with the intention of charming the pants off of Harry’s family, when in reality Harry’s family charmed the pants off of him instead.

“See you, Nialler,” Louis said, ruffling Niall’s hair as he passed by the younger boy in the chair.

“Bye, Tommo!” Niall called as Harry walked Louis to the door.

“Thanks for coming,” Harry said with a wide grin once they were out of earshot of the others. “They all loved you, you’ve no need to worry.”

“They’re great, Harry, really,” Louis replied sincerely.

“Love you,” Harry said softly, leaning down to give Louis a gentle kiss.

“Love you, too,” Louis said happily, still somewhat in disbelief that this was his life. “Oh, I wanted to let you know that I’m gonna have to go to Doncaster for a couple of days. I want to tell my family before this gets out to the media. And Fizzy’s still not talking to me, so I’m hoping if I show up and pester her enough she’ll forgive me in the end,” Louis said, unable to keep the slight note of sadness from his voice.

“You want me to come with you?” Harry asked, and Louis looked at him in surprise.

“You don’t have to, my family is completely crazy,” Louis said, although he was incredibly touched by the offer.

“I don’t want to, like, intrude if you think it would be better for just you to go, but I’m happy to meet your family whenever you’re ready for me to,” Harry said honestly, before cracking a smile. “It’s only fair after the way I sprung my family on you.”

“Your family is lovely,” Louis laughed. “My sisters are more likely to insult you to your face while trying to braid your hair. It’s a little bit different, love.”

“Noted,” Harry laughed. “The offer still stands, though, if you change your mind.”

“You are ridiculously sweet,” Louis said with a grin, leaning up to kiss him one last time. “I’ll see you later.”

It only took two more hours before Louis caved, lying awake in bed unable to sleep. He looked at his clock and saw that it was just past midnight. He sighed and grabbed his phone from the bedside table, sending a text to Harry before he could change his mind.

**Louis  
** _Come with me? xx_

**Harry  
** _Of course! :) xxx_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	7. VII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely comments! I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a chapter up last week, I had some personal issues that needed taking care of. 
> 
> We're winding down, now. There should only be 2 more chapters and an epilogue after this. Thank you all so much for going on this journey with me and allowing me to indulge in this fantasy. We're almost there!

“Do you think they’ll like me?” Harry asked nervously.

“Babe, they already love you,” Louis said reassuringly, turning from the driver’s seat to shoot Harry a small smile. They were in Louis’ car on the way to Doncaster, with Harry’s security detail following in an SUV behind them.

“And are you sure your mum doesn’t mind if I stay with you?” Harry asked for about the fifth time.

“She’d have a fit if you tried to stay anywhere else,” Louis laughed. “And before you have the chance to ask _again_ , yes, she knows that you’re bringing your security detail.”

“Sorry,” Harry laughed. “I just really don’t want to be a bother.”

“You won’t be,” Louis insisted.

“Are you nervous?” Harry asked.

“Only a little,” Louis admitted. “Mum and the girls all love you, obviously, and I know that Mum and Lottie will be thrilled for us. Phoebe and Daisy too, they’re young enough that I don’t think they’ll care much at all, really. But…Fizzy…”

“She still hasn’t talked to you?” Harry asked sympathetically.

“Not a word,” Louis sighed. He’d tried to get in touch with her multiple times after their fight, but all of his texts and emails went unanswered and his phone calls were ignored. Louis had to admire her stubbornness, if nothing else. She certainly was his sister.

“What if we tell her first?” Harry suggested. “Before your mum and the rest of your family, I mean.”

“I would have told her the minute we got together if she’d stop ignoring my calls,” Louis admitted, before an idea struck him. “Unless…would you mind terribly if we make a quick detour? Fiz goes to boarding school about 45 minutes away from Doncaster. What if we pick her up and take her home for the weekend? Mum was gonna drive up to get her after dinner, but, I’m pretty sure she won’t try to punch me if I go to pick her up instead.”

“Whatever you want, Lou,” Harry said easily.

A few phone calls later and everything was sorted. It would take a little extra time to collect Fizzy, but Louis felt like it was the right decision. That way she would get to meet Harry first, hear about their relationship first, and Louis would get to apologize in person. Plus, he hoped that it would earn him at least _some_ brownie points to willingly pick her up at a boarding school full of teenage girls.

When they pulled up to the school, Louis turned to Harry.

“It’s probably best that you stay in the car,” Louis said with a slight frown. “It’s just, it would take security a while to sweep the school, and it’s usually best to get in and out quickly, otherwise the girls might mob us.”

“It’s fine,” Harry said honestly, pulling Louis in for a quick kiss. “Go get your sister, I’m excited to meet her!”

“Famous last words,” Louis laughed before hopping out of the car and going into the school, heading to the main office to sign his sister out.

The school day wasn’t over yet, so Louis was pulling her out in the middle of classes, which meant that he had to wait for her to be collected from her classroom and brought to the office.

He saw her walking down the hall before she saw him, a confused and slightly nervous expression on her face until her eyes locked with his and she stopped dead in her tracks. Louis smiled at her and gave a small wave that he meant to look casual, but in reality looked more nervous than anything.

“What are you doing here?” Fizzy asked suspiciously, walking over until she was standing right in front of him.

“I’ve come to surprise you!” Louis said. “What’s a big brother for if he can’t get you out of classes a half day early, right? Plus, I’ve brought someone home that I’d like you all to meet, and I’d like you to be the first to meet him.”

Fizzy just stared at him, completely unmoving.

“Please don’t be mad at me, Fiz,” Louis said softly, reaching out a hand and tugging on the sleeve of her jumper. “I’m really, really sorry.”

“I hate you,” Fizzy said, before she threw her arms around Louis and was hugging him tightly.

Louis wrapped his arms around his younger sister and hugged her tightly, not letting go until she did. Fizzy stepped back from the hug and smacked him hard in the arm.

“Ow!” Louis complained, rubbing his arm.

“Shut up, you deserved that,” Fizzy insisted. “And if you ever keep anything like that from me _ever_ again, I will end you. Clear?”

“Jesus, when did you become so threatening?” Louis laughed, before looking into her eyes seriously and saying, “I’m sorry. No more secrets, okay? I promise.”

“Good,” Fizzy said with a final nod, before looking around the office. “Now, I believe you said something about getting me out of class early?”

“I did,” Louis laughed. “Come on, you ready to go?”

“Yeah, come with me to my room to grab my bag?” Fizzy requested.

Louis followed his sister to the dormitory to get her overnight bag for the weekend at home. Most of the students were in the middle of class, so he only stopped to pose for a few pictures along the way.

On their way out to the car, Louis slung his arm around Fizzy’s shoulders, pulling her in for a hug as they were walking. It was no secret that Louis adored his sisters, and he was really just thrilled that Fizzy was talking to him again.

“So this person you’ve brought home, is it safe to assume it’s who I think it is?” Fizzy asked, checking to make sure they were out of earshot of anyone passing by.

“Depends on who you think it is,” Louis teased.

“Would it also be safe to assume that this is your new boyfriend?” Fizzy asked slyly.

“That would be a safe assumption, yes,” Louis confirmed with a grin. “Fiz, there’s so much I have to tell you. Come on and meet Harry first, we’ll catch you up in the car.”

“He’s in the car?” Fizzy asked, stopping in her tracks. “Do I look okay? When you said you wanted me to meet him, I didn’t think you meant _now_!”

“Yeah, he’s really excited to meet you,” Louis reassured her. “And you look beautiful, obviously.”

“ _Not_ obvious,” Fizzy said with a roll of her eyes, but kept walking anyway.

Louis opened the car door for her sister and she slid into the back seat. Harry turned around from the front and gave her a warm smile.

“Hi, you must be Fizzy,” Harry said, shaking her hand. “Louis’ told me so much about you.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” Fizzy said politely.

“I’m sorry, I would get out of the car and give you a proper greeting but it’s probably best that I’m not seen just yet,” Harry apologized.

“No, it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Fizzy said.

“So, be honest, what do you think the reaction will be like when the girls see Harry?” Louis asked his sister.

“Chaos,” Fizzy snorted. “I’d advise turning around while you still can.”

“No, I’m excited to meet everyone,” Harry said genuinely. “Really. Louis talks about you guys all the time.”

“I could say the same about you,” Fizzy said before continuing wryly, “come to think of it I really should have seen this coming.”

“He can be a bit camp, can’t he?” Harry teased, and Fizzy let out a surprised burst of laughter. Louis pretended to scowl, but couldn’t keep the smile from his face. He knew that Harry had just won over his sister completely.

One down, four to go.

**X**

Harry had met a lot of people in his life. Kings, Queens, Presidents, Foreign Dignitaries…but he had never been quite _this_ nervous to meet someone.

Meeting Louis’ mum was a big deal, and Harry wanted so badly to make a good impression. He tried his best to remain calm and collected on the outside, but inside he was a mess of nerves.

“You okay, babe?” Louis asked as they pulled up to Jay’s house.

“Fine,” Harry said, forcing out a smile.

“You’re not _nervous_ , are you?” Louis asked in disbelief, a shit-eating grin spreading over his face.

“You’re such a prick,” Harry laughed. “Don’t make fun of me!”

“Harold, do you have _any_ idea how much my mother already loves you?” Louis asked seriously.

“It’s true,” Fizzy piped up from the back seat.

“Yeah, but she’s never actually met me. What if she hates me?” Harry asked sincerely.

“Ridiculous. Utterly impossible,” Louis insisted, pulling Harry in for a quick, reassuring kiss while Fizzy made gagging noises from behind them.

They all got out of the car and Harry didn’t even have a moment to collect himself before Jay, pregnant and beaming, had opened the front door and was ushering them all inside.

Jay greeted Louis and Fizzy with big hugs before turning her attention on Harry.

“It’s so wonderful to finally meet you, Harry,” Jay said sincerely, pulling Harry in for a hug as well.

“I’m so pleased to meet you, as well,” Harry responded warmly. “Thank you so much for allowing me to stay here, and please know that if it becomes a problem I can easily go somewhere else.”

“Nonsense, we wouldn’t have you anywhere else!” Jay insisted.

They all moved into the living room where Lottie and the twins were waiting. Daisy was eying James with caution, but turned her attention straight to Harry once he entered the room.

“Don’t I get a hello?” Louis teased, breaking the nervous energy in the room. “Or do you not care about me anymore now that Harry’s here?”

Daisy and Phoebe grinned and got up to hug their brother, but Lottie stayed in place.

“You’re old news,” Lottie teased. “I, for one, am far more interested in your guest.”

“Right, time for proper introductions, I suppose,” Louis said. “Harry, these are my other sisters, Lottie, Daisy, and Phoebe. Girls, this is Harry.”

“Hi!” Harry exclaimed, giving them a friendly wave.

That seemed to be all the encouragement the twins needed; almost immediately they started bombarding him with questions, dragging him over to sit on the couch with them.

“Why did you come to visit?”

“Are you _really_ Louis’ best friend? He says you are, but I don’t know if I believe him.”

“Have you always had such curly hair?”

“Do you have a hair stylist?”

“How is Princess Gemma?”

“Do you really live in a palace?”

“Do you have servants?”

“Who are those other men who came with you?”

“Girls!” Louis exclaimed, dropping unceremoniously onto the other end of the couch. “One at a time, yeah? He can’t even get an answer in with how fast you’re talking!"

“It’s okay,” Harry laughed, already delighted with the twins. “Let’s see if I can remember your questions correctly. Um, why am I here? I’m here because Louis asked me to come with him. Am I his best friend? I don’t know, you’d have to ask him,” Harry responded with a cheeky grin, before continuing. “I have always had curly hair, but I used to cut it short so it didn’t look very curly when I was younger. I do have a hair stylist for when I make appearances, but usually I do my hair myself. Gemma is great, she sends her best wishes. I do live in a palace, but it’s probably not quite what you think. It kind of functions like an apartment building, a bunch of other family members live there as well. I don’t have any household staff, but my mother does have some. They’re not servants, though, they’re paid staff members. And the men who came with me are my security detail, James and Thomas. They’re here to look out for me and make sure that I don’t get into too much trouble,” Harry finished with a chuckle.

“You’re very good at answering questions,” Daisy noted.

“You are very good at asking them,” Harry complimented with a wide grin. Louis met his eyes overtop of the twins’ heads, and Harry almost stopped breathing when he saw how much love was reflected back at him.

“So, not that I don’t want you here, but I’m betting that you didn’t come to visit just because you missed us,” Lottie said, giving Harry and Louis a knowing look.

“Yes, Mum said that you have news for us,” Phoebe prompted. “But she said you wouldn’t tell her what it was.”

“Um, right, yeah, I suppose we can do that now,” Louis said, and Harry could tell immediately how nervous he was. “I brought Harry here because we have something important to tell you,” Louis started, but was immediately interrupted by Daisy.

“Are you getting married?!” Daisy asked excitedly.

Harry let out a loud bark of laughter, completely enamored with Louis’ family.

“No,” Louis said with a sigh, and Harry could see Daisy’s visible disappointment.

“We are dating, though,” Louis said, and Daisy’s face lit up again.

“So you might get married one day, then?” Daisy asked, clearly overjoyed with the idea of attending a royal wedding. Harry couldn’t help but giggle at the panicked look on Louis’ face.

“Um, maybe?” Louis said, more of a question than answer. “It’s a little soon to be talking about marriage, kiddo.”

“Are you in love?” Phoebe asked curiously.

“Yes,” Louis answered succinctly, biting his lip and looking at his shoes before letting his gaze wander to catch Harry’s eye. They grinned stupidly at each other for a moment, and Harry didn’t think that there were words that could properly describe just how _much_ he loved Louis.

“Yes,” Harry said, echoing Louis’ answer, before asking, “Is that okay with you? That I’m in love with your brother?”

“I think it’s nice,” Phoebe said sweetly. “I don’t think he’s ever been in love before.”

“Oh? And what would you know about it?” Louis laughed, surprise at Phoebe’s boldness written all over his face.

“You look at Harry differently,” Phoebe said observantly.

“Do I?” Louis asked, and Harry could hear the genuine surprise behind his voice.

“Please,” Lottie snorted. “You’ve been looking at Harry like he’s made of sunshine and rainbows since the moment you met him. Have you _seen_ the things people have been saying about you two on the internet?”

“Thank you, that’s not embarrassing at all,” Louis muttered, and Harry just couldn’t stop laughing.

“Lottie, what have I told you about reading that garbage,” Jay scolded, but there was a small grin on her face.

“Well, turns out they were kinda right, weren’t they?” Lottie laughed.

“Yeah, but your mum’s right,” Harry said. “Most of it is complete rubbish, and you’ll just drive yourself crazy with it after awhile.”

“That’s also kind of why we’re here,” Louis said. “I mean, obviously I wanted to have you all meet Harry, but there’s a little more to it than that.”

Harry reached out and grabbed Louis’ hand, squeezing it supportively.

“I want to start off by saying that I…well, I just really wish that the things that I do don’t affect you and your lives, but I know that they do. And that’s not fair, and I’m really sorry about it. I know that you girls already get shit at school about me, and I really, really hate that.”

“It’s not bad, Lou, honest,” Fizzy said kindly. “Some people like to run their mouths, but it’s not like, harassment or anything.”

“But still, I just wish that you didn’t have to go through any of that,” Louis said sincerely. “And I know that what I’m getting ready to do might make things worse for you for a little while, but I want you to know that you can talk to me or Mum if you’re having problems and we’ll sort it out.”

“You’re coming out aren’t you?” Lottie guessed.

Louis bit his lip and nodded.

“It’s happening on Monday. I know this is short notice, but, well, once I made the decision everything moved pretty quickly,” Louis explained.

“Can I ask a question?” Daisy asked, eyebrows crinkled in confusion. “What does coming out mean?”

“Do you girls remember when Harry was in the news a few months ago? When he decided to announce that he was gay?” Louis asked, choosing his words carefully.

Phoebe and Daisy both nodded.

“Right,” Louis said. “Well, sometimes when people are gay they don’t feel comfortable telling other people.”

“Why?” Daisy interjected curiously.

“Sometimes people are scared, kiddo,” Louis sighed, reaching out a hand to stroke through Daisy’s hair. “Not everyone is nice to people who are different. Coming out is when you decide to stop hiding who you are from other people. Does that make sense?”

“So you’re gonna tell people that you’re gay and that you’re in love with Harry?” Phoebe summed up. “Right?”

“Basically, yes,” Louis said, and shot Harry a wry smile because, oh, if only it were as simple and easy as she made it sound.

“And this is all happening on Monday?” Jay asked gently, once she was sure that her children got all of their questions out of their systems.

“I’m really sorry,” Louis said with a grimace.

“No,” Jay said firmly, locking eyes with her son. “Do not ever apologize for being who you are.”

Harry’s breath hitched at Jay’s words, and he could see that Louis’ eyes suddenly got suspiciously wet. That was _exactly_ what Louis had needed to hear, and no matter how many times Harry said it himself, it would always mean something different coming from his mother. In that moment, Harry thought he fell a little bit in love with Jay.

“Alright,” Louis said, clearing his throat. “So, what does this all mean for you? It means that people might say some mean things to you at school. Kids can be horrible, just ignore them, and don’t feel like you have to defend me; trust me, I could not be happier. If people are genuinely cruel, though, I want you to tell me or Mum okay? Promise?” Louis asked, eyeing each of his sisters carefully.

“Promise,” they all echoed.

“And a lot of people won’t be mean,” Harry interjected, feeling like he had to lighten up the heaviness in the room a bit. “Some people will be really supportive, and say really nice things. It just depends on who they are and how they were raised. In my experience, at least, far more people have been supportive than nasty.”

They spent a little longer chatting before Jay went into the kitchen to start dinner.

“I’m gonna go see if your mum needs help,” Harry said, after a minute.

“Suck up,” Louis teased, but still smacked a kiss to Harry’s hand as he got off of the couch.

“Would you like any help?” Harry asked, walking into the kitchen.

“Oh, you’re sweet,” Jay said with a smile, “but I’m fine. You’re our guest!”

“Please, I’d really like to help,” Harry insisted. “I’m actually a really good cook, I promise.”

“Alright, then,” Jay acquiesced, instructing him to start chopping vegetables.

“How are the babies doing?” Harry asked.

“Oh, they’re lovely, thank you,” Jay said sincerely, a happy grin coming to her face as she said, “I’m still just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I’m really having two more.”

“You’re gonna have your hands full,” Harry laughed.

“That I will!”

“But, I’m sure you’re no stranger to it,” Harry pointed out. “You’ve had twins once before, and I can only imagine what a nightmare Louis must have been as a child,” he teased.

“He was wonderful!” Jay insisted. “Energetic, yes, but wonderful.”

“That sounds about right,” Harry laughed.

“I worry about him,” Jay mused softly. “He’s always been loud and energetic, but he’s also always been so sweet, as well. Hard on the outside, soft on the inside, you know? And he’s just…out there, traveling the world, and I can’t protect him anymore. I don’t want him to lose that kindness and gentleness, and the industry he’s in is all too willing to strip that from him.”

Harry looked at Jay for a moment. She was staring at her hands, seemingly unsure of how she’d let her mouth run away with her, and she looked so much like Louis in that moment that it made Harry’s heart swell. He reached out a hand to squeeze her arm supportively.

“That’s my favorite part of him too,” Harry confessed.

And whatever Harry said seemed to be exactly the right thing, as Jay looked up at him with a bright smile and squeezed his hand.

“I think as long as he’s got people like you around him, he’ll be fine,” Jay said confidently.

“I want you to know that I don’t plan on going anywhere,” Harry said. And maybe it was a little soon in the relationship to be talking about intentions, but Harry needed Jay to know that Louis wasn’t alone, that Louis had Harry, and that Harry planned to take care of him.

“Those are big words for someone so young,” Jay said softly, but her voice was kind and her eyes sincere.

“Louis said something similar to me, once,” Harry said, a soft smile playing at his lips at the memory. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I chased after him for months before he’d agree to be my boyfriend.”

“Really!” Jay exclaimed, letting out a giggle at the newfound piece of gossip.

“He told me that his argument against it was because I was only nineteen and didn’t really know what I wanted. That I can have trouble choosing a shirt to wear in the morning, so how could I be so certain about him?”

“That’s a fair argument,” Jay mused.

“It is,” Harry agreed. “But, picking shirts, and deciding what to eat for lunch, and picking a pair of shoes, those are all trivial. They don’t mean anything to me, so I can be quite indecisive. But, when it comes to something that means a lot to me, something I love, I don’t second guess myself.”

“And that’s Louis?” Jay guessed, a fond grin spreading across her face.

Harry grinned and blushed, looking down and starting to chop vegetables again. “That’s Louis,” he confirmed.

**X**

The weekend passed by in a flash. As predicted, Harry completely and utterly charmed Louis’ family, even going so far as to exchange numbers with Jay so that they could keep in touch while Louis was on tour. It was ridiculous, really, and Louis was _almost_ concerned that Jay loved Harry more than she loved him.

Before Louis knew it, he was waiting in the dressing room with Liam and Zayn backstage at Jonathan Ross. They had chosen The Jonathan Ross Show for their official coming out interview since he had been so kind and supportive during Harry’s coming out as well.

Harry was sitting on the couch in the dressing room, having tagged along for moral support even though he wasn’t going to take part in the actual interview. Louis was pacing back and forth in front of the couch until Harry sighed and leaned forward.

“Take a breath, babe,” Harry soothed, reaching an arm out to grab Louis and stop his pacing.

“We’re not checking twitter yet, right?” Louis said, for the 500th time that day.

The statement had been released that morning, short and simple just like Harry’s was. It read,

_‘One Direction would like to address the rumours about member Louis Tomlinson’s sexual orientation. Louis has decided that the time has come to acknowledge the rumours and confirm that he is gay. Louis has the full love and support of his bandmates, and One Direction asks for privacy and discretion in the coming weeks. They are all looking forward to seeing their fans on their upcoming world tour, kicking off on April 25th!’_

“Don’t check twitter,” Harry counseled. “It will drive you crazy not to check, but it will drive you even crazier if you do. Just make it through your interview, and then we’ll go home and hide under the covers and look through everything together, yeah?”

Louis looked at Harry and his heart skipped a beat. Here he was, getting ready to come out on national television, with Harry right by his side. It was almost too much, because Harry was _everything_ , and Louis suddenly didn’t know if Harry even realized.

“I love you,” Louis said, feeling like those words were completely inadequate.

“I love you too,” Harry said with a happy smile.

Louis moved so that he was standing in front of Harry, bringing his hands up to frame Harry’s face. He looked Harry directly in the eyes as he said, “I need you to know how much. I’m freaking out right now, but I look at you and everything’s just…okay, somehow. I _love_ you.”

“ _Lou_ ,” Harry whispered, mouth opening and closing a few times before he finally got out, “are you trying to make me cry? Come here,” and Harry tugged Louis into a fierce hug, whispering words of love and encouragement into his ear.

It wasn’t long before they got the five minute warning, and Zayn and Liam pulled Louis and Harry into a group hug.

“We’ve got your back, no matter what,” Zayn said seriously. “If there’s a question you don’t want to answer, or don’t know how to answer, just look to us. It’s what we’re here for.”

“So fucking proud of you, mate,” Liam said. “And so happy for both of you.”

“Thanks,” Louis said sincerely, “Love you boys.”

“We love you too,” Zayn said. “Now let’s go out there and kill it!”

As the group pulled away, Harry hung onto Louis.

“I love you,” Harry said softly. “I love you _so_ much, and I’ll be right here when it’s done. And then we’re gonna walk out of here holding hands because we _can_ , and I’m never going anywhere without holding your hand ever again.”

Louis didn’t have the words to form an adequate response to that, so instead he pulled Harry into a kiss, slow and passionate and real.

“I love you,” Louis said, breathing it into Harry’s mouth like a promise before he was being pulled away, and One Direction was being introduced.

“It’s good to see you boys!” Jonathan exclaimed once everyone was seated. “How are you?”

“Great,” they all replied.

“We’ve just had a bit of time off, which has been really nice,” Liam said.

“Finally got a chance to catch up on sleep,” Louis agreed.

“Is that what you’ve done during your time off? Sleep?” Jonathan teased.

“Honestly, I think I slept for like three days straight in the beginning,” Zayn laughed.

“Yeah, the thing is that we really hadn’t had any like, prolonged periods of time off in almost three years,” Louis said. “So when we went from constantly going, to being able to sit still and stay in one place for awhile I think we all just completely crashed.”

“Sounds like it was a much needed break, then. So how are you all feeling now? Feeling better, ready to get back out there again?” Jonathan asked.

“Definitely,” Liam answered. “I think that, at the end of the day, making musing is what we love to do, so getting a chance to tour and play our music to fans all over the world is really just like a dream come true every time we get a chance to do it.”

“I know that you three are incredibly hard-working people, so I’m sure it was nice to have some time off, but it’s not really _completely_ time off, right? You’ve still got things going on.”

“Sure,” Louis said easily. “I mean, we’ve definitely been working preparing for the upcoming tour, and we’re always writing music and looking towards the next album, but it’s definitely been quieter, which has really been nice.”

“And even when you’ve got time off, you’re still all over the papers,” Jonathan prompted. “You in particular, Louis, seem to have been generating some headlines recently.”

“I suppose I have,” Louis answered with a wincing face, making everyone laugh.

“For those of you at home who are living under a rock and haven’t yet heard, you released a statement this morning addressing rumors about your sexuality, which essentially confirmed that you’re gay.”

“I did,” Louis confirmed, rubbing his hands on his thighs nervously, letting out a brief, surprised smile when the studio audience began applauding him.

“So, I’m curious, what made you decide to come out now? You were rumored to have a long-term girlfriend that you recently broke up with. Did that factor into your decision at all?” Jonathan asked, curiously. There was no judgment or malice in his voice, but Louis couldn’t help but wince internally when Eleanor was brought up. Management had briefed him on how to handle it, but it still made him uncomfortable to talk about.

“Eleanor is a great girl, and a really good friend, and she put up with… _so_ much on my behalf. But, we never dated. I’ve always been gay, but in an industry like ours, it’s still a bit taboo to be openly gay, so I was encouraged to, well, hide, really. And Eleanor was a great friend who was willing to help me hide, but eventually it just became too overwhelming, having to pretend all the time, and I just didn’t want to live my life like that anymore.”

There was more applause from the studio audience, and Louis bit back a smile, pleased that the audience at least seemed to be on his side.

“And do you have anything to say to the fans, who might be a little surprised by your announcement?” Jonathan asked.

“Absolutely. We love our fans, and they really do mean the world to us. We say it all the time, but it’s really true, they’ve done so much for us and there’s no way we’d be even close to where we are today without their love and support. I hope that they can respect that this was a personal decision for me, something that I needed to do for myself and for my happiness, and I want them to know that it’s not going to change us as a band. We’re still here for the music, and I’m still the same person I always was, and I hope that they’ll stick with us as well.” Louis said, trying to project an air of confidence that he wasn’t sure he really felt yet.

“I think it’s also important to remember that when we started out, we were just 17, 18 years old, you know? Just kids, really, completely new to this entire industry,” Liam added. “When someone in a position of power tells you that your band might not be successful unless you act a certain way and portray a certain image, you’re going to do it and believe them. I don’t think that Louis set out to try and hide in the beginning, but more that it just kind of happened and we all went with it for awhile because we weren’t sure what our other options were.”

“And I think that speaks to the larger issue of homophobia within this industry,” Zayn interjected. “It shouldn’t matter who you love, but in some ways this industry is very archaic in their beliefs, and I think that it’s time we worked to change that.”

There was even more applause from the studio audience at that, and Louis’ heart grew two sizes with how much love he had for his boys.

“Very well-spoken,” Jonathan complimented. “I suppose I don’t have to ask you where you stand on the issue?” he teased.

“We’re for equality, always,” Liam said, “but even more so, for us as a band, we just want what’s best for each other, and we couldn’t love or support Louis more.”

“I’ll admit that this whole coming out process has been a bit scary, but as you can see I have the most amazing people around me and it’s just made everything so much easier,” Louis said honestly.

“It seems like you do,” Jonathan said kindly. “You’ve also been spotted spending quite a bit of time with Prince Harry recently.”

“I have,” Louis said, unable to keep the grin off of his face.

“Now he’s recently had his own coming out experience. Has he helped you at all with this, been able to help guide you, so to speak, or given any advice?”

“Harry’s amazing,” Louis said genuinely. “He’s been my rock through this whole process, really.”

“Is there any truth to those dating rumors?” Jonathan asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively, making everyone laugh.

“It depends on which rumors you’re referring to,” Louis answered coyly, a big grin on his face, and the audience erupted into giggles.

“Are you and Prince Harry dating?” Jonathan clarified, asking point blank.

“We are, yes,” Louis confirmed, looking at his shoes to try and hide the stupidly large grin on his face at being able to admit it publicly.

The audience let out hoots and hollers, making Louis throw back his head in happy laughter.

“And how is that going?” Jonathan asked once the audience had quieted.

“It’s great,” Louis said sincerely. “Harry’s the most amazing person, and I’m just really, really happy. Obviously we’d like to try and keep things as private as possible, but, yeah, things are really good.”

“And have the rest of the boys gotten a chance to meet Prince Harry?” Jonathan questioned. “What’s your take on all of this?”

“We’ve met Prince Harry a few times now, and he really is just the loveliest person,” Liam answered. “I know people say that all the time, but it’s really true. He’s just a genuinely good person, and he’s a lot of fun to be around, so we’re just really happy that they’re happy.”

There was more applause from the audience, and then Jonathan moved into some more questions about their upcoming tour. And then, as quickly as it started, Jonathan segued into a commercial break and they were done.

Louis was buzzing as he walked backstage and into the dressing room, where Harry was waiting for him with the biggest smile that Louis had ever seen.

Louis had barely gotten through the door before Harry pounced on him, capturing his lips in a frantic kiss as he held onto Louis so tightly Louis was sure his shirt was going to rip from where Harry had it fisted in his hands.

Louis couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up out of him, kissing Harry in between giggles, because _he actually did it_.

And yeah, it had only just happened, and he didn’t even know how people were reacting on the internet, but in that moment he was _free_ , and _happy_ , and _in love_.

And he felt _amazing_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr, if you'd like :)  
> andthensusays.tumblr.com


	8. VIII

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your lovely comments! I'm so happy that people are enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it!
> 
> Like I said before, we're winding down now. After this, there will be one more chapter and an epilogue.
> 
> Enjoy! :)

Louis was abruptly woken up in the middle of the night by a frantic phone call from Lottie.

“Hello? What’s wrong?” Louis asked, because his little sister didn’t call him at three in the morning just to say hi.

“It’s Mum,” Lottie sobbed, and Louis felt his heart stop in his chest. “She—we’re in hospital now, she, I don’t know what’s happening, there was blood, she went into labor, and it’s too early—”

“Lottie, love, take a breath, okay? I need you to breathe,” Louis soothed, but internally he was having a panic attack. Lottie was right, twins usually came early, but Jay was only 32 weeks, which was really pushing it. Harry was sitting up next to him in bed, looking concerned.

“I’m sorry,” Lottie cried.

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Louis said, already on his feet and pulling on clothes frantically. “I’m on my way, yeah? Where are the twins, are they with you?”

“Yes, they’re here,” Lottie confirmed. “Fizzy’s still at school, though,”

“Okay, I’m gonna call a car for her. She should get there soon, okay? I’ll be right behind her.”

“O—okay,” Lottie said, and Louis could hear the tears in her voice.

“Listen. Lottie, are you listening?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Lottie confirmed.

“It’s gonna be okay, yeah?” Louis said. “I need you to take a deep breath, and calm down. I know it’s hard, love, but Daisy and Phoebe are probably terrified right now. I need you to be strong for them.”

“Yeah…yeah, okay,” Lottie said, and Louis could hear her sniffling and breathing deeply into the phone.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Louis promised.

“Okay,” Lottie said, and she sounded a little stronger. “Love you.”

“Love you too, bub,” Louis said before hanging up the phone. He looked down and noticed that his hands were shaking.

“Babe, what’s going on?” Harry asked, eyes full of concern. Louis blinked once and noticed that Harry was fully dressed; he must have put on clothes when Louis got out of bed.

“The babies are coming,” Louis said shakily.

“Now?!” Harry exclaimed, alarm ringing clear through his voice.

“I, um, I have to go,” Louis said, but Harry wrapped him in his arms.

“I’m driving,” Harry insisted, pressing a soothing kiss to Louis’ temple.

“You don’t—“ Louis started, but Harry immediately cut him off.

“I wouldn’t let you do this alone,” Harry said, and the impact of that statement hit Louis like a ton of bricks.

He wasn’t alone. And that…that was _everything._  

Louis nodded his head and squeezed Harry’s hand in a silent thank you before they were both rushing out the door.

It turned out that dating a prince did have its benefits, as Harry was able to arrange a car for Fizzy and a police escort for them within minutes, ensuring that they made it to Doncaster in record time.

When Louis and Harry rounded the corner into the waiting area at the hospital, Louis saw his family huddled together, looking nervous and unsure. Fizzy was the one who spotted him first.

“Louis!” she exclaimed, rushing towards him and practically jumping into his arms. He could feel her shaking beneath him.

“Hey,” Louis whispered, hugging her tightly, planting a firm kiss on the top of her head before moving to hug Lottie, Phoebe, and Daisy. “What’s the news, where’s Dan?” Louis asked.

“He’s with Mum, they just brought her into an emergency c-section not too long ago. We haven’t heard anything yet,” Lottie said grimly.

“Christ,” Louis muttered under his breath, looking at Harry with worried eyes. He had hoped against all hope that they’d be able to stop her labor for another couple of weeks to give the babies more time, more of a fighting chance.

“Is Mum gonna be okay?” Daisy asked quietly, looking every inch the frightened child that she was.

Louis looked down at her and just completely froze, the words dying on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to tell her _of course_ , but honestly he had no fucking idea. And he knew that was the last thing he should tell the twins, but for the life of him he just couldn’t think of what to say that wouldn’t be an outright lie.

“Sometimes when people have babies, things get a little complicated,” Harry said, jumping in. “Babies can be quite stubborn, you know,” he joked, bringing small, uncertain smiles to Daisy and Phoebe’s faces. “That’s why we have hospitals, so the doctors can help the mummies and babies to be healthy. Your mum is exactly where she needs to be right now.”

Daisy nodded thoughtfully, some of the tension releasing from her small shoulders, and Louis thought that he might propose to Harry right there on the spot.

“And don’t forget, Mum’s done this a couple of times before,” Louis teased, coming back into himself as he took a seat. Phoebe stuck to him like glue, climbing into his lap, pointedly ignoring the fact that she was mostly too big to fit. Louis was all too willing to give her a cuddle, and smiled as Harry sat down next to him and Daisy copied her sister, snuggling into Harry’s side, clearly having identified him as a safe source of comfort.

“What are the babies gonna look like?” Phoebe asked.

“Well, they’ll be small,” Louis said. “Very small. Twins are usually born earlier than when there’s just one baby, so they’re a bit smaller. Plus, they’re fighting each other for room in there, so it doesn’t surprise me that they wanted out,” he teased gently.

“Were we born early too?” Daisy questioned.

“You were,” Louis confirmed. “You were born when Mum was about 36 weeks along, which was a little early but more or less right on time. You both weighed a little over five pounds, and were very healthy.”

“Little screamers, the both of you,” Lottie teased.

“Only five pounds?!” Daisy exclaimed. “That’s so tiny!”

“It is,” Louis affirmed. “These babies will be even tinier than that, but you grew, and so will they,” Louis sounded more confident than he felt. He had to…the thought that one or both of the babies would be too small, not strong enough, was just…too much. It was all way too much.

“Were you here when we were born?” Phoebe asked.

“Course,” Louis scoffed. “Where else would I have been, playing footie? I was here when all of you were born.”

“How big was Lottie?” Daisy asked.

“What is this, a test?” Louis teased. “If I remember correctly, I think she was a little over eight pounds, and didn’t wanna come out! She was born a week late, Mum was going crazy, she said she thought she’d be pregnant forever,” Louis recalled, making everyone laugh.

“What about Fizzy?” Phoebe asked.

“Fiz was actually born early, like these guys. Not this early, but she was three weeks premature. She was perfectly healthy when she was born, just barely seven pounds, and came out like she’d planned it all along. Dad said that she was gonna be the kind of girl who did things on her own time, and I think he was right,” Louis teased.

“It’s a little weird, innit?” Fizzy mused. “These babies aren’t gonna be Tomlinsons.”

“Not technically, no,” Louis said. “But they are gonna be your brothers or sisters, even if they have a different last name. I wasn’t a Tomlinson either until Dad adopted me,” Louis pointed out.

“Yeah,” Lottie agreed, “family is more than just a name.”

Louis and Harry did their best to keep the conversation flowing and entertain everyone while they waited for news of Jay and the twins. Luckily they didn’t have to wait a terribly long time before Dan came into the waiting room, looking exhausted but relieved.

“What happened?” Lottie asked anxiously.

“Your mum and new brothers are doing great,” Dan answered happily, and a relieved cheer went up from the group.

“Brothers!” Fizzy exclaimed.

“It’s about time!” Louis laughed. “I’ve been waiting 22 years for more boys in this family!”

“And the babies are okay?” Lottie asked.

“They’re doing well, all things considered,” Dan said. “They’re a little early so their lungs aren’t fully developed yet, but they’re on oxygen and the doctors said they’re strong and everything looks good.”

“When can we see them?” Daisy asked excitedly.

“When can we see Mum?” Phoebe asked.

“It’ll be a little while before you can see your mum, she’s still recovering from surgery, but I can take you to a window where you can see the babies,” Dan offered.

While the group excitedly followed Dan to the viewing area of the NICU, Louis hung back with Harry for a moment.

He didn’t need to say anything; Harry opened his arms, letting Louis fold himself into them, holding Louis tightly as Louis sagged in relief.

“You’re amazing,” Harry whispered, and Louis chuckled, sighing deeply.

“ _You’re_ amazing,” Louis corrected. “I don’t know what I would have said if you hadn’t been here. Daisy was looking at me and all I could think was, shit, the babies could die, _Mum_ could die, and I’ve absolutely no idea what to say.”

“I think that’s a pretty normal reaction, all things considered,” Harry insisted.

“If you say so,” Louis sighed, dragging a hand over his face tiredly. It was almost eight in the morning, and they’d only gotten a couple of hours of sleep before Lottie’s phone call came.

“Come on,” Harry said, tugging at the bottom of Louis’ shirt. “Let’s go see your brothers.”

“God,” Louis breathed, still trying to absorb everything that happened in the past five hours. “I’ve never had brothers before.”

“Seeing how good you are with your sisters makes me pretty confident that you’ll do alright,” Harry teased, his hand warm on Louis’ back as he led them over to the viewing area where the rest of Louis’ family was waiting.

“You were right, Louis, they’re so tiny,” Daisy breathed, nose pressed up against the glass.

“They’ll grow,” Louis said confidently. “Before you know it they’ll be chasing you around the house, completely terrorizing you like you all did to me.”

Daisy just stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

“How long will they need to stay in hospital?” Louis asked Dan after a minute.

“The doctors think about four weeks,” Dan said.

“We can’t take them home?” Phoebe asked, concerned.

“Sorry, Phoebes, not yet,” Louis answered. “Since they were born a little early they still need a bit of help from the doctors before they can go home, but that’s normal for babies born early.”

“What he really means is enjoy the peace and quiet while you can,” Lottie teased. “Babies are noisy, especially two of them.”

Harry wrapped his arms around Louis from behind, resting his chin on Louis’ shoulder as they looked through the glass at the two newest members of the family. Louis leaned back into the embrace happily.

“God, Haz, look at them,” Louis said quietly, breathless with wonder.

“They’re beautiful,” Harry agreed, smiling contently as the girls chattered away about the babies, talking a mile a minute.

They all waited around for a little while longer, as no one wanted to leave without seeing Jay first. When she was back in the recovery room, Louis let the girls see her first, smiling as they each came out looking happy and relieved. Although they were all worried about the babies, what they’d all really needed was to be sure that their mum was okay.

Louis slipped into the room once the girls had all exited, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Jay’s cheek.

“Hi, Mum,” Louis said quietly, a small smile on his face.

“Boo bear,” Jay said, smiling tiredly at Louis as she lifted a hand to cup his cheek.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” Jay answered. “Tired, sore, but…just really happy that the babies are healthy.”

“We all are,” Louis replied. “Can’t believe we’ve finally added some boys to the family.”

“You’ve waited a long time for brothers,” Jay teased.

“I knew you’d pull through for me eventually,” Louis joked, making Jay giggle.

“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Jay said knowingly.

“Not your fault,” Louis said seriously. “These things happen, I’m just glad that it all ended well.”

“Me too,” Jay nodded. “Have you seen the babies?”

“We did,” Louis said, a grin settling over his face. “They’re small, but gorgeous.”

“Lottie mentioned that Harry came with you,” Jay said, sounding pleased.

“He was with me when she called and offered to drive,” Louis explained.

“You’ve got a good one there,” Jay said fondly.

“I do,” Louis agreed, eyes crinkling as he smiled. Jay yawned and Louis rubbed her arm, saying, “I’m sure you’re exhausted. I think we’re gonna take the girls home, if that’s alright? I think we all could use some sleep.”

“Thank you, poppet,” Jay said, reaching out a hand to squeeze his arm. “My first baby,” she sighed, “do you have any idea how much I love you?”

“I love you too,” Louis whispered, touched by the way his mother was looking at him, like she couldn’t possibly love him any more.

“I’m so proud of you,” Jay continued, eyes filling with a mother’s tears. “And not just for what you’ve done. I’m proud of you for _who you are_.”

“Stop it or you’ll set me off crying too,” Louis teased, swallowing thickly. He leaned down hugged Jay, heart full to the brim with love for his mother. He wasn’t lying in interviews when he said that they were close, and he had no idea what he would have done if anything had happened to her.

Louis realized at that moment that no matter how old a person was, or how much they’d accomplished in their life, there is nothing in the world that could replace a mother. And that no matter how old or independent he became, there would always be a part of him that _needed_ her.

“I love you,” Louis said again, because he really didn’t tell her enough.

“I love you too,” Jay said with a soft smile. “Now go home and get some rest. Come and see me before you head back to London, okay?”

“I don’t know what Harry’s schedule looks like but I’m gonna stay for a little while,” Louis said, leaving no room for argument. “You’ll need help with the girls, and you should be here with the babies as much as you can.”

“You know as well as I do that you can’t just escape London until the babies are home,” Jay said kindly. “You have a job and a life too, and that’s okay.”

Louis’ jaw set in frustration, because he knew that his mother was right. They were in the middle of rehearsals for the tour, and there were a million and one things that needed to get done before they would be ready to leave. He wouldn’t be able to stay in Doncaster indefinitely, but he could probably manage to stay for a week or so at least.

“I’ll work something out,” Louis said, “don’t worry.”

Louis’ initial prediction was right, he was able to get a little over a week off before he’d have to be back in London to finish rehearsals and start preparing for the tour. Harry, being Harry, had of course insisted that he stay as well, cancelling all of his appointments for as long as Louis needed him.

It was quite nice, actually, playing house with Harry. Louis would get the kids up and ready for school in the morning while Harry made breakfast for everyone. They’d then do the school run, dropping the twins and Lottie off at their respective schools before heading to the hospital to spend time with Jay, Dan, and the babies. Then, Harry would head home and Louis would pick the girls up from school, bringing them home to a delicious and nutritious after-school snack prepared by Harry. Then it was time for homework, Louis and Harry taking turns helping the twins as needed. Louis and Harry would make dinner together, making sure that the family still ate together even while Jay and Dan were still at the hospital. They had some down time in the evenings, usually spent watching television or a movie before it was time for baths, brushing teeth, and bed. Lottie helped with the twins where she could, but her relief at Louis’ presence was at times palpable.

It was almost funny, how easily they were all able to fall into a routine. It certainly wasn’t Louis’ first time looking after his siblings, but with Harry there it made it feel more official, in a sense. Instead of caving and not enforcing any homework policy while letting the girls eat pizza every night, Louis felt a larger sense of responsibility to make sure that their lives weren’t too disrupted and that they continued to be cared for in a responsible manner. He wasn’t sure if that was just a sign of him growing up, or due to the influence of Harry, who was constantly in his ear talking about the importance of a balanced diet or maths homework. He suspected it was a little bit of both.

Before they went back to London, Lottie told them that they’d make superb parents, joking that she and the twins were more organized and well-looked after under the care of Louis and Harry than they were normally! Louis made a face at her in response, but found, shockingly enough, that he could completely imagine a future like that with Harry—the two of them raising rowdy, curly haired kids, sneaking kisses in between homework and bath time. Even more shocking, he found that the thought didn’t actually scare him. It _excited_ him.

Once they were back in London, Harry and Louis did their best to try and make the most of the time that they had together before Louis had to leave for tour. The two rarely spent a day without seeing each other at least once, and by early April Harry was spending almost every single night at Louis’ house. Louis teased him about it, of course, because who in their right mind would give up a palace for a house in London? Harry would just laugh and snuggle closer to Louis, and Louis would press a kiss to his temple because honestly, neither boy would have it any other way.

Harry and Louis could also be found gallivanting around London quite frequently, holding hands and kissing, acting like the young couple freshly in love that they were. And the media _loved_ them. They were officially a power couple, and although they were usually able to go out and about without too much fuss, once they were spotted by paparazzi it was complete madness.

“You’re leaving in three days,” Harry said sadly, a few nights before One Direction was scheduled to begin their tour in South America. Harry and Louis were lying in bed cuddled together, sated and happy and not quite ready to fall asleep just yet.

“I am,” Louis agreed with a frown. “But I’ll just be a month in South America and then I’ll be back in the UK and Europe, yeah? You’ll barely even miss me.”

“Yeah…” Harry trailed off, and Louis could tell the smile that Harry put on was less than genuine.

“What’s wrong, love?” Louis asked seriously.

“I’ve just, like…I dunno, gotten used to having you around, I guess? Like, I know that we’ve only been officially dating for a couple of months now, but we’ve never really been apart this long before. Even before we started dating we spent basically all of our time together.”

“So you _are_ gonna miss me,” Louis teased with a grin.

“Of _course_ I’ll miss you, idiot,” Harry laughed. “I haven’t been home in days and I’ve been spending all of my time here so it feels kinda like I’ll be going back to a different life, you know? A worse life, because you’ll be a million miles away.”

“We’ll have skype and phone calls and text messages, yeah?” Louis said seriously, shifting to look Harry in the eyes. “I’ll be in South America but I’m not gonna be like _gone_ , you know?”

“What if I call you at three in the morning?” Harry teased.

“I would pick up the phone,” Louis said simply.

“At three in the morning?” Harry asked skeptically.

“Of course!” Louis replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world before getting a mischievous look in his eyes and continuing, “I’d have to make sure it wasn’t an emergency before telling you to fuck off and let me get my beauty rest,” he teased, making Harry burst out into laughter.

“You’re such a prick, I don’t know why I put up with you,” Harry said with a happy giggle.

“Because you love me and I’m irresistible,” Louis said knowingly, pressing a kiss to Harry’s cheek.

“Occasionally,” Harry drawled.

There was a beat of silence while Louis observed Harry. He still looked sad and uncomfortable, and Louis’ heart clenched. Touring was a part of his job, and as much as he didn’t want to say it, was just something that Harry would have to get used to dealing with. There were a lot of things about his job that were negotiable, but touring was not one of them.

“You can stay here, you know,” Louis said after a minute.

“What do you mean?”

“Like, after I leave. Just because I’m gone doesn’t mean that you have to clear out too,” Louis clarified.

“No, Lou, it’s your house—” Harry started to protest, but Louis cut him off.

“It’s kinda yours too, though, isn’t it?” Louis pointed out. “You said it yourself, you’ve been spending almost all of your time here, and I can’t even think of the last time you slept at your place. I know that it makes you feel normal to stay here in a regular house, and just…you don’t have to give that up just because I’ll be out of the country for a little while, you know?”

“What if I never leave?” Harry asked, but Louis could tell from his grin how pleased he was.

“Then I suppose we’ll have to fix up the pool house for your security detail, won’t we?” Louis answered with a matching grin.

“You really wouldn’t mind if I stayed here?” Harry asked.

“You can stay for as long as you like,” Louis said seriously, entwining his hand with Harry’s larger one and pulling it up for a kiss.

Harry was silent for a minute, and Louis wondered if he’d said something wrong before Harry let out a breath and said, “I’m staying in London. For uni, I mean.”

“What?” Louis asked, genuinely surprised. He’d been almost certain that Harry would pick Cambridge.

“I made the decision earlier this week,” Harry admitted. “I wanted to tell you, but things have been so crazy gearing up for the tour and with your family that there was never a good time.”

“Never a good time to tell me that my boyfriend is _not_ , in fact, moving to a different city for the next three years?” Louis snorted, but underneath was really quite pleased.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Harry laughed.

“Are you sure it’s what you want?” Louis asked after a minute. “Like, I knew that you didn’t really want to go to Cambridge, but are you sure you’d rather stay in London?”

“Are you seriously asking me that?” Harry laughed. “My entire life is in London. _You’re_ in London. I don’t want to fuck off to somewhere else for three years just to say I did it.”

“You’re not staying just for me, are you?” Louis asked softly.

“Not just for you, no, but I’m not going to pretend like it didn’t factor into my decision,” Harry answered honestly. “Are you—I thought you’d be happy?”

“I am,” Louis cut in quickly. “You have no idea how happy I am. I just want to make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. For _you_. Not for me.”

“Lou…I took a gap year that turned into two years that _almost_ turned into three because I couldn’t decide on a university. Then I met you. And like, up until that point I’d had basically no desire to even go to university in the first place, but…you make me want to do something with my life, you know? Be better. And I didn’t want to go to Cambridge, you know that. You helped me see that it was okay to choose a university that would make _me_ happy, not just what my family would expect. And yeah, I don’t want to leave London. I don’t want to leave _you_. But, I also don’t really want to leave my family, or Niall, who already goes to uni here. When I sat down and really thought about what _I_ wanted instead of what everyone else wanted for me, the choice was easy.”

“Really?” Louis breathed, practically bursting with love for his boy.

“Really,” Harry said seriously. “You can’t keep being surprised every time I tell you that you’ve helped me. At some point it’s got to stick,” Harry teased.

“No, I know our relationship isn’t all one-sided, I do,” Louis promised. “It’s just…I’m still getting used to being able to acknowledge that, I guess?  Like, when I first met you I had to convince myself of all the reasons why I shouldn’t get involved with you, you know? And the easiest way to do that was to tell myself all the reasons why you would never want to be with someone like me. It’s just taking awhile for me to stop believing them.”

“I wouldn’t want to be with anyone other than you,” Harry said honestly.

“I know,” Louis said, acknowledging more than just the words that were said, but also the trust that he had in Harry. “You’re really staying?” He asked, lips curving into a happy smile.

“I am,” Harry confirmed, matching Louis’ smile with one of his own. “It’s already done, you can’t get rid of me now.”

“Would never want to, love,” Louis said honestly, pressing a happy kiss to Harry’s lips.

**X**

“ _Fuck, ohh,_ ” Harry breathed, lying face down on Louis’ bed as Louis sucked a mark onto the back of Harry’s thigh.

It was the night before Louis was scheduled to leave, and Louis had made it very clear to Harry that under no circumstances did he plan on spending a minute of it out of bed. If he was being honest, he and Louis had a pretty healthy sex life, and Harry knew that being apart for a solid month with only phone and Skype sex to get them through was going to be torturous.

“No one’s really ever done this for you before?” Louis asked, feathering kisses across Harry’s thighs, hands massaging Harry’s ass.

“Never,” Harry said, already breathless with anticipation.

“Pity,” Louis countered, hands roaming up and down Harry’s back. “Your arse is a work of art.”

“Not as good as yours,” Harry teased, letting out a moan as Louis ran a finger down his crack, brushing lightly over his hole.

Harry could feel Louis chuckle from behind him, before leaning down and gently biting his inner thigh, making Harry jump and push back into Louis unconsciously.

“ _Lou_ ,” Harry moaned, and Louis finally took pity on him, spreading his cheeks apart and licking a devastatingly slow circle around his hole.  Harry’s body instantly stood at attention at the contact. It was unlike anything that Harry had ever felt before, and immediately his body, curious and responsive, screamed for more.

Louis took his time, licking and teasing Harry open until he was wrecked and stripped bare, absolutely shaking from the weight of it all, body torn between wanting _more_ and wanting Louis to never, _ever_ stop what he was doing. Rimming was not something that Harry had ever had an interest in doing with another partner for exactly that reason. It left Harry feeling so open and vulnerable, and under ordinary circumstances that would _terrify_ him, but with Louis it was completely different. Everything with Louis was completely different. With Louis, he was being stripped bare, but in the _best_ way, and Harry trusted that Louis would put him back together again. When it came down to it, that’s all that really mattered—Harry would do anything for Louis, _try_ anything with Louis, because he trusted him. He trusted him and loved him with all that he had, and for once he was certain that his trust was not misplaced.

With Louis, Harry was _safe_. Harry was _loved_.

Harry was distracted as Louis slipped a finger in next to his tongue, finding Harry’s prostate with expert precision. Harry arched his back, and between Louis’ assault on his prostate and the friction that the pillow underneath him was providing, he couldn’t hold off any longer. Harry came hard, practically sobbing with the intensity of his orgasm.

Once Harry came back down to earth, Louis flipped him over gingerly, taking it upon himself to gently wipe Harry clean while Harry recovered.

“You’re tryin’ta kill me,” Harry murmured.

“The exact opposite, actually,” Louis laughed.

“Fuck, I love you,” Harry said as sincerely as he could. “Love you so much, Lou.”

“I love you too,” Louis giggled happily, clearly pleased with the results of his work.

Harry reached out for Louis, cuddling into his chest as he gave his body a minute to rest.

“Enjoy that, did you?” Louis teased with a happy smile.

“Jesus, God, yes,” was all Harry managed to say, sending Louis into a further fit of laughter.

They stayed that way for a little while, cuddling and giggled and completely wrapped up in love.

Later, when Louis fucked him, it was slow and deliberate, taking the time to map out each other’s bodies and commit them to memory before they were separated. Promises of _love_ , and _fidelity_ , and _always_ were whispered into each other’s skin, marking, staking a claim, pledging a forever that they were determined to let themselves have.

Harry had never been in love before Louis, and lying there in the middle of the night with Louis’ sleeping head nestled into his shoulder, Harry didn’t think that he could ever, _would_ ever, love anyone else. Harry smirked as he realized that his life could be divided into two stages. There was _Before Louis_ , but Harry was certain that he would never let there be an _After_ _Louis_. No, Harry’s life had two stages, _Before Louis,_ and _Louis_ , and Harry was becoming increasingly certain that he would be in the _Louis_ stage for the rest of his life.

Harry dealt with Louis’ leaving as best as he could. The first week without Louis was okay. He went back to Kensington Palace and busied himself catching up with his family and with Niall, as he’d been unintentionally neglecting them a bit during the days leading up to the tour. It occupied him for awhile, but he couldn’t help but feel as though he was living someone else’s life. His schedule wasn’t much different from what it was before Louis had come storming into his life, and eventually he came to realize that it wasn’t his schedule that was different, _he_ was different. Meeting Louis, _loving_ Louis had changed him in the _best_ ways.  He felt like his life suddenly had a purpose, had a direction, and he was no longer content to just laze about his apartment, getting into mischief with Niall. His apartment just didn’t feel like home, anymore.

Which is how he found himself starting off the second week of tour in bed at Louis’ house. He was woken up a little before 11am by his phone ringing. He smiled when he saw a picture of Louis’ face appear on the screen, and eagerly answered the phone.

“Hey, babe,” Harry said, voice still scratchy with sleep.

“Did I seriously just wake you up?” Louis laughed. “It’s not even 8am where I am, and _you’re_ still asleep?”

“Maybe,” Harry giggled.

“Life is seriously unfair,” Louis huffed.

“Not my fault, last night was the first time I got a good night’s sleep all week,” Harry protested.

“Out partying too much?” Louis teased.

“Not even,” Harry laughed. “I finally caved,” he admitted.

“I’m surprised it took you this long,” Louis chuckled. “So the house is still standing, I take it?”

“Yep,” Harry confirmed. “Just a little empty and lonely without you.”

“It’s kind of nice,” Louis mused, “knowing that you’re there. Usually when I think of home it does feel kind of lonely and empty. But now when I think of home, I get to think of you.”

“I miss you,” Harry said softly, which is really what he’d been saying all along.

“I miss you too,” Louis answered without hesitation. “It’s only been a week, I know, but like…I just miss you.”

“I miss you whenever I’m not with you,” Harry said, grinning when Louis let out a groan.

“Harold, that is a _terrible_ line!” Louis laughed.

“It is,” Harry agreed. “But it’s also kinda true.”

“You certainly are Prince Charming, aren’t you?” Louis teased, but Harry could hear the affection in his voice.

“When I want to be,” Harry laughed. “So how are things going over there?”

“Babe, it is _crazy_ over here, I wish you could see it! Our concerts are just packed with fans going completely mad.”

“That’s amazing, Lou!” Harry said, grinning broadly.

“I know, we really couldn’t be more pleased with the turnout. And I know that we were concerned initially about a potential loss in sales over my coming out, but if it exists it’s minimal at best. Fans are still coming out in droves to see us. I’ve even seen quite a few Larry Stylinson signs in the audience!” Louis exclaimed, and it warmed Harry’s heart to hear the excitement in Louis’ voice.

As much as it pained Harry to be away from Louis for months on end, _this_ is what it was all about for him, the reason why he put up with all of the other shit brought on by his job. Harry knew that for Louis, nothing quite compared to playing their music live for fans. He belonged on stage.

“I can’t wait till I can see the shows here,” Harry said enthusiastically.

“It’ll be sick, I’m so excited!” Louis exclaimed. “How are things over there?”

“Boring,” Harry laughed. “Mum had me in meetings all day yesterday until I couldn’t take it anymore and fled to your house. Come to think of it, that was probably her plan all along, actually,” Harry mused.

“Someone was being a little grumpy, weren’t they?” Louis teased.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Harry insisted, making Louis laugh.

“So are you feeling better now, love?” Louis asked.

“I am, actually,” Harry said, almost surprising himself with the answer. “Is it completely sad that just sleeping in your bed makes me feel better?”

“Not sad at all,” Louis said fondly. “You want to hear a secret? I sleep in your shirt.”

“Really?” Harry exclaimed happily.

“Every night,” Louis confirmed, before letting out a laugh. “God, we’re pathetic.”

“Not pathetic!” Harry giggled. “We’re in love, idiot. Isn’t this when you get to do and say completely stupid things and not be judged for them? We’ll look back at this in three years and want to vomit at how embarrassing we were, I guarantee it.”

“You’re probably right,” Louis laughed, before groaning. “I’m sorry, love, but I’ve gotta go. Call me later, yeah? Let’s try to Skype tonight.”

“Sounds good,” Harry agreed. “Love you, Lou.”

“Love you too, sunshine.”

The days passed by slowly for Harry. Louis was in South America for a month, before One Direction had two weeks touring Ireland and the UK, and then it was another month touring Europe before a solid two month tour of North America. When all was said and done, Louis wouldn’t be home for good until _October_. Harry tried not to let himself think too much about it, because he would be visiting Louis periodically throughout their time in Europe, but once he started uni in the fall, there would be no more visits to or from his international pop star boyfriend.

He tried not to think about that most of all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr, if you'd like! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	9. IX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the lovely response that this fic has gotten!! I have loved every minute of writing it, and it was such a nice little escape from reality for me.
> 
> Unfortunately, we've reached the end. This is the last chapter, and next week I'll be posting an epilogue, and then I can check that little box that says complete!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy! Thanks so much for coming on this journey with me :)

It had been a month. One solid, _excruciatingly_ long month since Harry had last seen Louis. Now, _finally_ , One Direction was bringing their tour to Europe, kicking off in Dublin for two nights. The boys had a two week break before their Dublin dates to give the crew a chance to get all of the equipment shipped as well as to give the boys a bit of a breather before they powered through the middle leg of their tour.

Harry was trying to wait patiently at Louis’ house (which had really become _their_ house given the fact that Harry had more or less moved in, but it wasn’t completely official yet), but he was more than anxious to see Louis. One Direction’s plane had just landed, and Louis had texted Harry to alert him that he was on his way home. Harry was waiting in the living room, trying to watch television but completely unable to sit still. His eyes kept glancing towards the clock, and each time he would be more and more frustrated that only a minute or two had passed since the last time he checked. Time seemed to be moving backwards, and he was almost certain it was a conspiracy.

_Finally_ , he heard a key in the door and Louis walked in, struggling slightly with a massive suitcase that he was rolling behind him.

Louis looked…amazing. His hair was messy from traveling, and he was wearing his signature sweatpants and t-shirt that he always wore during long plane journeys. He probably hadn’t slept much in the past 24 hours, but his eyes were bright and sparkling and his smile upon seeing Harry was incandescent. More importantly, he was _there_ , in the flesh, for the first time in _four weeks_. He could look like complete shit and Harry would still think he was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Lou!” Harry cried excitedly, practically jumping off of the sofa in an attempt to get to his boyfriend.

“Hazza!” Louis laughed, dropping everything he was carrying before wrapping his arms around Harry.

They stood like that for a minute, arms wound tightly around each other, taking in the feel of each other underneath their fingers. Louis was warm, and soft, and bright all at once, and it felt just like he’d never left. Harry wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but the sudden feeling of finally being _home_ completely overwhelmed him.

“Missed you so much,” Harry whispered into Louis’ neck, sealing his words with a kiss right underneath his ear.

“Missed you too,” Louis said, voice soft and serious. “God, Harry, _so_ much. You have no idea.”

“I think I do,” Harry chuckled as they pulled away from each other just far enough so that they could get a proper look at the other person. Louis’ hands immediately came up to frame Harry’s face, thumbs tenderly stroking his cheekbones.

Harry leaned in and met Louis with a kiss. It was slow and sweet, _hello_ , _I miss you_ , and _I love you_ all rolled into one. Harry’s hands snaked underneath Louis’ shirt, gently rubbing against the warm, smooth skin on his back, and Louis’ hands were running lazily through Harry’s hair.

When Harry had imagined their first meeting after a month apart, he figured that they’d be tearing each other’s clothes off within the first thirty seconds. While he still had every intention of doing so at some point in the near future, _this,_ just _touching_ each other again, reacquainting themselves with the feel of each other’s skin beneath their fingers was far more intimate a moment than Harry could have ever imagined.

“Love you,” Louis murmured once the need for air became too great and they were forced to separate.

“Love you too,” Harry replied, pressing a kiss to the tip of Louis’ nose, making the older boy’s eyes crinkle in a smile. “How was the flight?” Harry asked. Louis groaned and let his head fall onto Harry’s shoulder.

“Long,” Louis moaned. “Twelve hours. I haven’t slept in days.”

“So dramatic,” Harry teased, dropping a kiss into Louis’ hair. “Go upstairs and have a nap.”

“Come with me,” Louis insisted, looking up at him with tired, blue eyes, and there was no way Harry could even think of refusing him.

They stripped down to their boxers and crawled into bed together, bodies drifting towards one another and slotting together like puzzle pieces. Louis’ head tucked into Harry’s shoulder, and his arms wrapped tightly around Harry’s waist like he never wanted to let go.

Suddenly Harry realized just how _tired_ he was. How tired he’d been for the last month. He realized that he’d been missing more than just Louis’ jokes, laughter, and sex. He’d been missing the feel of Louis next to him every night; the unconscious knowledge that he could reach out in the middle of the night and Louis would settle himself underneath his arm. He’d missed _Louis_ , everything about him, and it was like he’d been walking around missing a limb, an integral part of himself, without even realizing it. There, in the comfort of Louis’ arms, he suddenly felt as if he could sleep forever. His body finally caught up with itself, and he drifted off into the first restful sleep he’d had in weeks.

Harry and Louis made good use of the two week break that Louis had. They slept, cuddled, and had _lots_ and lots of sex. They also made it up to Doncaster for a couple of days to visit with Louis’ family since his mum and Dan wouldn’t be able to make it to their UK concerts because of the new babies, who were finally home safe and sound and bigger than ever.

Louis was completely and utterly in love with his new brothers, and Harry delighted in watching Louis bond with them outside of the hospital. If he was being honest, he was pretty in love with them as well.

When One Direction opened in Dublin, Harry was watching from the wings with Niall, unimaginably proud of his boy. Watching Louis on stage, it was unmistakable—that’s where he belonged. He worked the stage and the crowd like a pro, which Harry supposed he was, really. The fans adored him, and Harry was astounded by Louis’ ability to have the same teasing banter with a crowd of thousands that he had with just one or two people. Louis was born for the spotlight; it was where he burned brightest.

Niall took everyone out after their last show in Dublin for a chance to see “the real Ireland” which, true to Niall’s form, turned out to be a pub crawl of epic proportions. Harry spent the following day spectacularly hungover, and he was sure that there were more than a few incriminating (albeit most likely hilarious) pictures of the five of them floating around the internet, but he honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d had that much fun. He was so in love with Louis it sometimes hurt, but he was also incredibly thankful that in Louis he was able to find Liam and Zayn, who had turned out to be incredibly solid and loyal friends. The five of them got on like they’d known each other forever, and Harry wasn’t quite sure how he got so lucky to have such amazing friends on his side.

After the shows in Dublin, there were three nights in Manchester, one in Edinburgh, and another three in London. Louis’ dad brought his four sisters to all of the Manchester dates, and Harry sat with them in a private box. It gave him a good chance to get to know Louis’ dad a bit better, as he’d only met him once before, and as always he enjoyed spending time with the girls. It didn’t take long for fans to take notice of Harry with Louis’ family, and within minutes there was a plethora of grainy pictures scattered all over the internet of Harry laughing with Lottie and Fizzy, and dancing with Daisy and Phoebe. For once, it didn’t bother him in the slightest.

What _did_ bother him, however, was the crowd of fans and paparazzi surrounding the hotel after the second night in Manchester. Harry and Louis were in a car with Louis’ family outside of their hotel, circling the block while One Direction’s security team was in front of the hotel to ensure that it was safe for them all to get out of the car.

“Alright,” Louis instructed as the car slowly made its way back around the block towards the hotel. “It might be a bit chaotic out there. Harry and I will go first, if the paps get a couple of pictures of us they might back off a bit. Once we get out of the car, wait about a minute, then get out of the car and head straight inside, okay?”

“When you get outside, stay together and keep walking,” Harry said, chiming in. “People might be a little loud, so just keep your head down and get inside.”

“Good point,” Louis affirmed, and the car rolled to a stop outside of the hotel. “Everyone ready?”

Upon seeing nods from the group, Louis took Harry’s hand and the two of them exited the car, taking a minute to chat with the paparazzi and allow some pictures to be taken.

“Listen,” Louis said, holding a hand up while the paparazzi were taking pictures. “My family is in the car and I’ve got to get them inside. Could you please wait to take any more pictures until they’re in the hotel?” Louis asked nicely.

The photographers seemed to consider it for a moment before lowering their cameras. Harry moved to the car to open the door, and Louis’ family hopped out of the car one at a time. Mark, Lottie, and Fizzy started to walk towards the hotel entrance, but Daisy and Phoebe hung back with Harry, clearly frightened of the crowd of people who had started screaming at them.

It was as if their hesitation was all that the paparazzi needed. One man started taking pictures again, camera brightly flashing with every click of the shutter.

“Mate, _please_ do not take pictures of my sisters,” Louis bit out, clearly frustrated.

“They’re only nine, leave them alone,” Harry pleaded, but once one paparazzo started taking pictures, all bets were off and the rest of them quickly followed suit. Suddenly, the flash of the cameras was completely blinding as grown men crowded around them, shouting at Harry and Louis and shouting at the twins. Daisy and Phoebe clung to Harry as he practically picked them up and started barreling towards the hotel’s entrance, Louis following quickly behind.

Once they were all safely inside, Harry immediately knelt down to check on the twins.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, feeling absolutely horrible.

Daisy and Phoebe nodded shakily, and Harry instinctively reached out and pulled them both into a reassuring hug.

“I’m so sorry,” Louis said, taking a minute to check on the twins himself.

“It’s my fault,” Harry said glumly. “Paps are always horrible, but they’re especially bad because I’m here as well. I shouldn’t have come at the same time as your family.”

“No!” Daisy protested. “We wanted to see you! We _never_ get to see you and Louis!”

“It’s not _your_ fault people want to take your picture,” Phoebe insisted.

Harry was floored. He was used to bringing chaos wherever he went—it came with the territory of his family. It was something that he’d been dealing with all of his life, and always assumed that it would be difficult for him to find someone willing to put up with the complete mess that could sometimes be his life. Now, Louis’ family was _supporting_ him, _sticking up_ for him. It was more than he had ever hoped for; more than he deserved.

“I’m really happy that I was able to see you too,” Harry said honestly. “But I’m still sorry about paparazzi, anyway.”

“Let’s just hope they got your good side, huh, Phoebes?” Louis teased, catching Harry’s eye and shrugging his shoulders as if to say, it’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last. And Harry knows that, he does, but it doesn’t mean he has to like it.

Which is why, once Harry and Louis reached their room, Harry pulled out his phone and sent out a tweet. If it was a little passive-aggressive, so be it.

**Harry Styles**  
I don’t support the business of scaring children.

He put his phone away with a satisfied grin. He was probably going to hear it in the morning, but he found that he really couldn’t care less.

As One Direction continued on with the rest of the European leg of their tour, Harry and Louis made a point to try to talk on the phone or over Skype at least once a day, and they were constantly texting. Harry also went to visit Louis as often as possible, meeting up with the band in Paris, Milan, and Barcelona.

While Louis was away, Harry spent his time settling into their house. He had stopped thinking of it being _just Louis’_ house after about the third consecutive week of living there. Harry had, for all intents and purposes, moved in, and once Louis realized that Harry was quite happy with that arrangement, had encouraged Harry to do whatever he needed to do to make it feel more like home.

“Redecorate,” Louis had suggested to him one night over the phone. “Go crazy, please. The place has never even really been decorated to begin with. I haven’t been home long enough to really care.”

“Are you sure?” Harry asked hesitantly, mind already swimming with ideas of little touches he could put in each room.

“Definitely,” Louis said confidently. “It’s your house now too, Harry.”

“I like the sound of that,” Harry said, unable to keep the massive grin off of his face.

“Me too,” Louis agreed, and Harry could practically hear his matching grin over the phone. “Now go out and make us a home, yeah?”

Harry didn’t need to be told twice, and when he was out shopping with friends and found a fantastic ornate mirror that turned out to be the first of many pieces in The Great Redecoration of 2014, he realized that he and Louis were doing more than just moving in together, or buying new furniture, or repainting the kitchen—they were building a life together, one step at a time.

Some parts of the tour were harder than others. Like when Harry started uni, and Louis was in Chicago. They Skyped and Harry excitedly told Louis all about his first day, his classes, and the people that he’d met, and Louis just kept _apologizing_ for not being there. Harry got annoyed very quickly at Louis’ incessant apologizing for something that he couldn’t change, and before he knew it what had started off as a lighthearted conversation had turned into them screaming at each other over Skype.

It was really difficult to have an international fight. It was even harder to have an international make-up.

That was just the nature of a long distance relationship, Harry came to realize. Sometimes things were good, and other times things really, _really_ sucked. But, no matter what happened, Harry and Louis got through it together, and Harry was pretty confident that was a good sign.

It was like Anne told him once, right after she married Robin, “Harry, love isn’t always like it is in the movies. It’s not always easy. There are times when Robin frustrates me so much I just want to break something, but there has never been a moment when I’m so frustrated or angry that I forget all of the many, many reasons why I love him.”

Harry didn’t think that he had really understood what she meant at the time, but he knew now. And with each passing day he became more and more certain that even though his relationship with Louis was a bit unconventional at times, and certainly came with its own unique set of problems, that Louis was the person he wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

And that—that was an _awesome_ feeling.

**X**

When Louis finally (finally, finally, _finally_ ) came home at the end of tour, his experience was so very different than any of the past tours. He wasn’t just coming home, he was coming home _to_ someone, and he didn’t think that there was anything in the world that could beat that feeling; knowing that someone was waiting for him and that he wasn’t just coming back to an empty house, but a _home_ …it was overwhelming, at times, how much he loved his boy.

And truly, a home was what Harry had made of his house. Harry, with his dimpled smile and infectious giggle gave Louis a tour of their house, pointing out everything he’d changed about each room. Louis’ house had never really had a _style_ before; it was just a conglomeration of stuff strewn about somewhat purposefully around the house. Harry had managed to make their house look like something that could be in one of those design magazines—modern and comfortable and so completely _them_.

“I can’t believe you did all this!” Louis exclaimed, awestruck as he looked around at everything Harry had done.

“You really like it?” Harry asked hopefully.

“I love it,” Louis promised, pulling Harry in for a kiss.

“So glad to have you home,” Harry whispered happily.

“So glad to _be_ home,” Louis replied, shaking his head in disbelief. “Fuck, Haz. Our home. I never thought…”

“I know,” Harry grinned, his long arms wrapping around Louis’ waist. “Took me a little while to get used to it, too.”

“You don’t miss living in a palace?” Louis teased.

“Yeah, because your house is so sub-par,” Harry giggled.  

“It’s still not a palace,” Louis pointed out.

“It’s better,” Harry replied easily. “It has you.”

Louis groaned at the cheesiness of the line, but he couldn’t keep the grin off of his face. Louis was blown away by Harry on a daily basis, for so, so many reasons.

“Aww!” Harry exclaimed one morning, a couple of weeks after Louis had returned home. “Look at your brothers!” Harry shoved his phone in Louis’ face, and Louis was met with an image of the new twins in matching One Direction onesies, both giggling at the camera.

“Is Mum _seriously_ texting you pictures of my brothers and not me?!” Louis asked incredulously.

“Maybe,” Harry giggled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that you and my mum were best friends, now,” Louis pouted.

“We text sometimes,” Harry said casually, trying and failing to hide his grin. Louis knew how much Harry loved riling him up.

“I can’t believe this. After all I’ve done for her she’s gone and replaced me with you,” Louis said unhappily.

“Poor baby,” Harry said with a fake pout, leaning over to press kisses all over his face until Louis was laughing and pushing him away, effectively calling his bluff.

In reality, Louis was beyond thrilled that Harry got along so well with his family, but especially with his mum. He had always been afraid that when he finally found someone they wouldn’t get on with his family, as loud and chaotic as they were, but Harry was so open and loving and patient with them. He really couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend.

“This is just hurtful,” Louis laughed, pulling out his phone. “I’m going to tweet the world to let them know how terribly you treat me.”

“It must be awful, being you,” Harry teased.

“Terrible,” Louis insisted, typing out a message on his phone and pressing send.

**Louis Tomlinson**  
Just found out that my mum texts Harry more than me. Rude. #boyfriendproblems

Harry barked out a laugh when he saw the tweet, and pulled Louis in for a cuddle. Louis put up a token resistance, but gave in rather quickly, settling himself in Harry’s lap.

“You love me,” Harry insisted.

“I do,” Louis said easily, pressing a kiss to Harry’s shoulder, because he couldn’t even pretend otherwise.

It was almost surprising, how easily Harry and Louis fell into the routine of living together. They had their squabbles as any other couple did, and Harry would probably never stop nagging Louis about being so messy, but for the most part the adjustment to living together felt very natural. There were changes that had to be made, given who Harry was, and Louis’ guest house had indeed been turned into living quarters for Harry’s security detail and extra security systems had been installed around the property. Some people considered it a big step to take for a couple who had only been officially dating for eight months, but for Harry and Louis, it couldn’t have felt more right.

It was the first time in their relationship where they’d been able to enjoy their time as a couple, really, without the threat of Louis’ immediate departure lurking over them. They were able to relax at home, and enjoy their relationship. They’d always said that they wanted to be as private a couple as possible, but there were still times when it became too difficult not to share some moments with the world. Harry had taken quite a few pictures of Louis sleeping and instagramed them with embarrassing tags like #boyfriendstagram and #sleepingangel, for instance.

Louis was also enjoying spending time getting to know Harry’s family better. Over the past eight months, Harry had gotten very close with Louis’ family, as evidenced by his official BFF status with Jay, apparently, but Louis hadn’t gotten the chance to really bond with Harry’s family as he had been on tour for six of those eight months.

It still intimidated him a bit, every time they’d go and visit Harry’s mum. He knew that Harry’s family liked him quite a bit, but it was a little hard to get over the fact that Harry’s mum was _The Queen_.

“Louis!” Anne exclaimed upon their first visit after he got home. “Welcome home, darling!”

“Thank you,” Louis said with a happy smile as Anne pulled him into a warm hug.

“Come and sit down, I want to hear all about the tour!” Anne insisted excitedly.

“It was amazing,” Louis said honestly, taking a seat next to Harry on the sofa. “It still feels like a dream, sometimes. A stadium tour is a really big deal, and the fact that we did it so young is just…it’s completely insane.”

“It sounds like it!” Anne exclaimed. “I wish I could have seen one of your shows! I had wanted to go with Harry and Gemma to your London show, but it would have been a nightmare for security. Plus, it wouldn’t have been right for me to go. The papers should be talking about what a great performance it was, not the fact that the Queen showed up.”

“That’s incredibly kind of you,” Louis said sincerely. “But for future reference we would be honored to have you at a concert.”

“Sucking up to your boyfriend’s mum, huh?” Anne teased. “Good lad.”

“Maybe a little,” Louis laughed. “But we really would love to have you at one of our shows. Just say the word and we’ll have security work something out.”

“Maybe next tour,” Anne conceded. “At least I’ll get to see you all perform at the Royal Children’s Charity Gala again next month, right?”

“Oh, are we performing again?” Louis asked, a smile lighting up his face.

“Has no one told you?” Anne laughed.

“Sometimes I don’t find out where I’m going until just a couple of days before the event,” Louis chuckled. “I just go where I’m told and hope I do a good job.”

“In many ways I can relate,” Anne said dryly, before continuing, “anyways, I’m sure that you and Harry will have a good time, at any rate. This will be your first public appearance together, so the press will be going mad. At the very least you’ll get some attractive pictures of the two of you in tuxes,” Anne joked.

Louis looked at Harry and smiled. Their first public date—red carpet, interviews, the works.

“No pressure, right?” Louis laughed.

“None at all,” Harry confirmed with a grin. “We’ll talk about it later, but I was thinking that we could all walk the red carpet together—you and the boys, and me and Gemma. There really will be less pressure that way, and then you don’t have to choose between the band and me.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Louis agreed, before raising an eyebrow mischievously. “Hypothetically speaking, how much trouble would I be in if I just answered every question with another question.”

“You’re as bad as Niall,” Anne laughed.

“He’s worse!” Harry insisted.

“Will Niall be there?” Louis asked eagerly. “I could _totally_ get him to go in with me on this.”

“He will be there, and I will forcibly separate you two if I have to,” Anne teased.

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon joking, laughing, and catching up. Louis slowly loosened up around Anne, and by the end of the visit he had kicked off his shoes and had his bare feet up on an ottoman. Harry seemed to have relaxed a little _too_ much, and was sprawled out on the sofa with his head in Louis’ lap, completely asleep. Louis was softly petting Harry’s head while he and Anne finished their conversation quietly. His eyes wandered down to where his fingers were trailing through Harry’s curls, absentmindedly tracing patterns on Harry’s scalp.

“You really love him, don’t you?” Anne asked softly. Louis looked up in surprise before smiling fondly.

“I really do,” he confirmed.

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him,” Anne confessed. “He’s always given his heart away so freely and easily. All I’ve ever wanted was someone who loves him just as much as he loves them. Just as much as he deserves.”

“He’s amazing,” Louis admitted quietly. It wasn’t like him to confess his feelings so openly, but he felt like it was something that Anne should know. “I’ve never met anyone quite like him. I don’t think there _is_ anyone quite like him,” Louis laughed. “And for whatever reason he chose me. I know what a gift that is.”

“He’s not perfect,” Anne teased.

“He’s not,” Louis agreed with a giggle. “He can be _so_ frustrating sometimes, but…he’s perfect for me, if that makes sense? And that makes him perfect to me.”

“I’m really happy that he found you,” Anne said seriously. “I’m rooting for you two.”

That was a vote of confidence that Louis could stand behind.

Harry and Louis’ first public appearance at the Royal Children’s Charity Gala was a huge success. They had decided to take Harry’s suggestion and walk the red carpet as a group, so that the press could get pictures of Harry and Louis together before they broke off into two separate groups for interviews. Louis stayed with his band, and Harry went with Gemma. There was less pressure that way, and it also ensured that their relationship didn’t overshadow the larger cause.

That didn’t mean they still couldn’t have _some_ fun in interviews, though.

“Prince Harry, how are you enjoying uni?” Louis heard one interviewer ask as he was passing by. Louis reached out and tickled Harry’s sides as he was passing behind him, making Harry jump and let out an undignified squeak. Harry’s head whipped around in surprise, but his face softened into a grin when he saw it was Louis.

“You see the way I’m treated?” Harry teased to the interviewer as he wrapped an arm around Louis and brought him into the interview.

“Louis, what kind of a student is Harry?” The interviewer asked.

“Terrible,” Louis teased with a bright smile.

“Not true!” Harry laughed.

“No, that’s not true,” Louis conceded with a grin. “He’s an excellent student, I’m very proud of him.”

Louis didn’t miss the way Harry beamed upon hearing that statement.

“You’ve just wrapped up a world tour. Did you find that being away so much was difficult on your relationship?” The interviewer probed.

“It’s just like any other relationship,” Harry responded. “Long distance can be difficult at times, but it wasn’t too bad.”

“Plus, Harry has to travel for work occasionally too, so he gets it. And we were able to see each other every now and then,” Louis added, before seeing his bandmates waiting for him at the next interview. “Looks like I’m being summoned, have a good night,” Louis told the reporter with a friendly smile, squeezing Harry’s side before leaving to join Liam and Zayn.

Harry and Louis spent the first part of the evening inundated with guests, friends, and celebrities who were itching to talk to them. Louis just laughed and took it all in stride, accepting the fact that he would probably never get to spend a full night with Harry at any public function ever. Instead, he focused on enjoying himself with his friends, knowing that Harry would come find him when he had a moment.

He didn’t have to wait too terribly long. After One Direction’s performance, Louis was chatting with some acquaintances, nursing a drink in his hand when his phone vibrated with a new text message.

**Harry**  
Meet me in the toilet in five? ;)

Louis bit back a laugh before sending a response.

**Louis**  
On my way x

Which is how Louis found himself once again standing at the sink of the toilet in a hidden hallway, one year after their first meeting. Louis’ head snapped up as the door opened and Harry walked in with a cheeky grin.

“Oops,” Harry said, sounding like the cat that caught the canary. He closed the door and made sure to lock it behind him.

“Hi,” Louis said with a soft laugh, staring fondly at his boy.

“Fancy meeting here _again_ , what are the odds?” Harry teased.

“Are you stalking me, Your Highness?” Louis joked.

“I wouldn’t have to if people would let me get near you for like five minutes,” Harry said petulantly, a pout unconsciously forming on his face.

“It is a bit mad, isn’t it?” Louis mused. “Who would have thought we were such a power couple?”

“Mum tried to warn us,” Harry pointed out.

“She did,” Louis agreed with a laugh before taking a moment to let his eyes wander all over Harry’s body. “Damn, but you do make a suit look good.”

“Not as good as you,” Harry insisted, moving so he was crowding Louis’ personal space. Louis’ back was pressed up against the sink and Harry’s arms circled him, hands resting on the counter.

“You trying to get in my pants, Styles?” Louis teased.

“Always,” Harry laughed. “Is it working?”

“Maybe,” Louis said teasingly before closing the gap between them and pulling Harry in for a kiss.

“You wanna know the first thing I thought when I first saw you in here last year?” Harry asked, eyes wide with mischief.

“It had better have something to do with how naturally gorgeous I am,” Louis said in mock-seriousness.

“Something like that,” Harry laughed. “I’m not even kidding, when I first walked through that door there was a brief second where I seriously considered just ripping all of your clothes off and blowing you right here.”

“Why didn’t you?!” Louis exclaimed. “I would have been all for that option, personally.”

“Well I didn’t know that at the time,” Harry giggled. “Besides, could you imagine the fallout from _that_ particular story if you had turned me down?”

“Prince Harry Attempts to Defile Poor Unsuspecting Boybander in the Bathroom at Children’s Charity Event,” Louis mused. “Not the greatest headlines, I’d imagine.”

“Fuck off,” Harry laughed.

“I would, _but_ , I believe that my incredibly handsome and talented boyfriend was going to give me a blowjob.”

“Oh?” Harry laughed. “I don’t recall offering that.”

“Harry, if you seriously dragged me into a secluded bathroom just to play another game of Would You Rather, I’m going to have to attack you, and then the papers will read Flamboyant Boybander Sexually Assaults Prince in Bathroom at Children’s Charity Event, and I don’t think either of us want that,” Louis said, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

“Well, if it’s our reputations that are on the line, I guess I’d better take one for the team,” Harry said seriously.

“That’s the spirit,” Louis laughed, pulling Harry in for another playful kiss.

Harry, however, was not to be deterred from the mission at hand, reaching out a hand and palming Louis through his trousers.  Louis let out a hiss at the contact, and leaned his head back as Harry pressed hot, wet kisses to his neck.

“Think you can be quiet?” Harry teased. “Two security detail are standing right on the other side of this door. Wouldn’t want them to hear you,” Harry said with a wicked smile.

“Fuck,” Louis breathed, grabbing Harry’s hip tightly as he ground their bodies together.

Louis was already so hard, had been half hard most of the night just watching the way Harry moved around in a suit that was tailored to fit all the right places.

Harry seemed to understand that they didn’t have a lot of time before someone came looking for them, so he dropped to his knees in front of Louis, eagerly unzipping Louis’ trousers and pulling them down until they were pooled at his feet. It only took him another second to strip Louis of his boxers as well, letting his cock spring free, before looking up at Louis with happy, wonderfully green eyes.

And that was a sight that Louis didn’t think he could ever get tired of, really—Harry on his knees, looking up at Louis like he was his whole world. Louis reached out a hand and fisted it in Harry’s hair, petting and pulling all at once.

“Jesus, Harry. The things you do to me,” Louis whispered reverently.

“I want to hear all about those things later,” Harry teased. “But first I’m gonna make you come so hard you won’t even know your own name.”

And, yes, please. That.

“Unghh,” Louis groaned as Harry started leisurely lapping at the head of his dick.

Harry practically smirked as he wrapped his lips around the head, tongue making agonizing circles around the tip.

Harry pulled off and pressed soft kisses up and down his length, continuing to tease Louis as much as possible in the short amount of time they had.

“Fuck,” Louis moaned. “God, your mouth feels so good.”

Harry starting licking long stripes up his length before locking eyes with Louis and taking him in all at once, making Louis throw his head back in ecstasy and grab on to the counter behind him for support. Harry pulled back slowly, letting his tongue trace a pattern on the underside of Louis’ cock until he had almost fully pulled off, before taking him down again until his nose was flush with Louis’ skin. Louis could feel his cock hit the back of Harry’s throat and he tried to muffle a loud moan, but was only partially successful.

Louis’ hand lost itself in Harry’s curls again, moving with his head as it bobbed up and down. Harry swirled his tongue with just enough pressure to make Louis grip on his hair tighten, making Harry moan and start sucking in earnest.

Louis didn’t think he could ever  get used to Harry’s blowjobs; couldn’t imagine how they could ever be considered routine. Harry knew exactly what to do to drive Louis wild, and each and every time he had his mouth around him seemed like an entirely new experience.

Harry worked his mouth around Louis—bobbing, sucking and licking until he had Louis teetering close to the edge.

“Close,” Louis moaned, “so close, Harry.”

Harry moaned and pulled off a bit, focusing on working his tongue in circles around the head, his moans making Louis vibrate with pleasure. Louis came hard, spilling hot ribbons into Harry’s mouth. Harry stayed wrapped around Louis, sucking him through his orgasm, swallowing greedily.

Once Louis came down from his high, he looked at Harry, painfully hard and painfully fully dressed, and it only took about a second before Louis was attacking him, flipping them so that Harry was leaned up against the sink before tugging down his trousers and boxers roughly.

“Fuck,” Harry moaned, clearly surprised with the change of events.

“Not yet,” Louis said cheekily, getting on his knees and licking wide stripes up and down Harry’s cock. “I’m gonna fuck you so hard when we get home, baby.”

“Uhngh,” Harry moaned, thrusting unconsciously into Louis’ face, desperate for friction of any kind.

Louis took pity on Harry and wrapped his mouth around his length, tongue swirling everywhere, just the way Harry loved.

“Lou,” Harry whimpered, spurring Louis to suck harder, move faster, until all of his senses were completely consumed by _HarryHarryHarry_.

It didn’t take long before Harry was spilling down his throat, coming with a load moan that his security guards were pretty much guaranteed to hear. So much for being quiet.

Louis stayed on his knees while Harry shuttered through his orgasm, stroking his thighs while he waited for Harry to come back down from his high.

“Love you so much,” Louis breathed, standing up and wrapping his arms around Harry, body feeling wrecked and completely relaxed.

“Love you more,” Harry responded, pressing a gentle kiss to Louis’ shoulder.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Louis laughed.

“I can’t even tell you how much I’ve fantasized about getting you off in this room,” Harry said with happy laughter.

“Really?” Louis questioned with a chuckle. “I hope this lived up to your expectations, then.”

“Always,” Harry said easily. “I’m already thinking of all the trouble we can get into next year.”

“Next year?” Louis asked fondly, smiling at Harry happily. The future was something that was rarely discussed openly, but it was a mutually foregone conclusion that wherever the future led them, they hoped it would be together.

“Next year,” Harry confirmed. “And the year after that, and the one after that, and the one after that, until one or both of us dies. Probably in this toilet,” Harry joked, making Louis bubble over with laughter.

“That’s a lot of years you’ve got planned for us, Styles,” Louis teased. “You sure you’re ready?”

“Ready for forever with you?” Harry questioned, dropping a happy kiss onto Louis’ lips. “That’s not even a real question; as if I could ever want anything else.

Forever with Harry Styles? 

Yeah…he was _definitely_ ready for that.

  **THE END**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on Tumblr, if you'd like! andthensusays.tumblr.com


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for coming on this ride with me. This is it, unfortunately, we've reached the end. I'm so happy that so many people have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
> 
> I hope you enjoy the epilogue as much as you have the rest of the story!

**2017**

“It’s wonderful to have the chance to sit down with you two,” Barbara Walters said, sitting across from Harry and Louis in one of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace. Cameras and lights were set up around the room, all pointed at Harry and Louis sitting close together on a sofa, holding hands.

“Thank you so much for being here,” Harry said with a charming smile.

“I’d like to start out by saying congratulations on your engagement,” Barbara said.

“Thank you!” Harry and Louis responded simultaneously.

“The world has watched your romance blossom from early days, so I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone when your engagement was announced.”

“Probably not,” Louis laughed. “It’s been what? Almost four years since we started dating?” He looked over at Harry questioningly and Harry nodded his head in agreement.

“About that, yeah.”

“People are dying to know about the proposal. Who proposed to whom, what happened, all the details,” Barbara probed.

“Louis was actually the one to propose,” Harry said with a beaming smile as he recalled the moment. “We were at home together, and it was lovely. Absolutely perfect.”

“Were you surprised?” Barbara asked.

“Very,” Harry laughed. “Marriage is something that we’ve talked about for a long time, and we’ve pretty much always known that we wanted to be together, but I was definitely not expecting it.”

“Louis, what made you decide to propose? You’re both still quite young,” Barbara asked curiously.

“Well, it was a lot of things, really. The timing seemed right, finally; Harry graduated from school and the band is on a break. And like Harry said, we’ve pretty much always known that we wanted to get married one day, and I guess I just couldn’t find any reason to wait anymore. Plus, I was worried that if I didn’t do it soon he’d get it into his head to propose to me!” Louis joked.

“It’s not like that would have been terrible,” Harry joked, feigning offence.

“No,” Louis laughed, looking over at Harry and sharing a secret smile before turning back to Barbara and the cameras. “It would have been wonderful, I’m sure. But, Harry put in a lot of effort chasing me in the beginning of our relationship. I was horrible, absolutely refused to date him,” Louis teased. “Genuinely, I have absolutely no idea why he didn’t just give up, but I’m so glad he didn’t, and I felt like he deserved this. To be the one being chased, for once.”

“That’s lovely,” Barbara commented. “Without getting too personal, what can you tell us about the proposal itself? You said that it happened at home? Had you been planning it for awhile?”

“I had,” Louis confirmed.

“He was a proper gentleman about it, too,” Harry interjected, “asked my parents for permission, got down on one knee, and everything.”

**X**

“Niall,” Louis groaned. “You are absolutely not helping. I can’t get Harry an engagement ring with a skull on it.”

“Why not?” Niall questioned. “It’s sick! I bet he’d love it.”

“He probably would if I were just buying him a regular ring. But this is an ‘I want to spend the rest of my life’ with you ring. I don’t think a skull sends the right message, there,” Louis reasoned.

“Alright fine, but I’m sending you more!” Niall insisted.

“W—” before Louis could even get another word in, Niall had already hung up the phone.

Louis groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. Ever since he’d asked Niall and Gemma for help choosing a ring to propose to Harry with, he’d gotten an almost constant stream of emails and pictures with ideas ranging from helpful to absurd. Once he’d also included Liam and Zayn in the planning process, things really got out of control.

It took Louis _ages_ to find the right ring. It seemed like everything that he saw was either too simple, too gaudy, or just not _Harry_ enough. Funnily enough, the right ring seemed to find its way to him all on its own.

Louis was out shopping with Zayn one Saturday morning with Zayn. Zayn was on a mission to find Perrie a birthday present, and had chosen a couple of high-end vintage shops to check out. Louis tried to keep his mind on the task at hand, but his eyes wandered over to the jewelry display case, as they had been doing for weeks every time he was at a store that sold men’s rings. At the second shop they went to, Louis seemed to find the ring from halfway across the room, and he knew from the second he laid eyes on it that it was the one. It was a beautiful, antique ring—a thick silver band wrapped around a large emerald, and on either side of the emerald were two sparrows mid-flight, giving way to decorative metalwork that spanned the entire length of the ring. It _screamed_ Harry.

With the ring purchased and stored away, the next step was asking for Anne and Robin’s blessing. Granted, he was relatively certain that they would give it to him, but it was a gesture that he knew they would appreciate. Before he did anything, however, he did have one phone call to make first.

“Hi, poppet!” Jay answered cheerily.

“Hi Mum, what are you up to?” Louis asked, feeling slightly guilty that he had to do this over the phone, but he couldn’t think of any way to sneak off to Doncaster without Harry wanting to come along, and he knew that once his mum and siblings knew what he had planned, it would be impossible to keep it a secret from Harry.

“Not much, at the moment,” Jay said easily. “Just trying to keep the boys from accidentally killing each other.”

“How are the twin terrors?” Louis asked fondly.

“Loud as ever,” Jay sighed. “I’d almost forgotten how loud little boys can be.”

“I hate to be the one to tell you, but we basically never settle down,” Louis laughed.

“Don’t remind me, please,” Jay groaned. “So how are you, love? What are you up to today?”

“Not much,” Louis answered. “I did have a reason for calling, though.”

“What’s up?”

“Are you sitting down?” Louis asked. “Because I think you should be sitting down for this.”

“Okay, now I’m worried,” Jay laughed nervously. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Louis said reassuringly, rolling his eyes fondly at his mother. “Are you sitting down?”

“I am, what is it?”

“The other day I bought a ring. For Harry. I’m going to propose,” Louis said, figuring the best way to handle the situation was to just tell her straight out. He knew she’d be happy; ecstatic, even. He just also knew that she would have a whole host of other emotions that would come with it.

“Oh my God!” Jay exclaimed. “Are you serious?!”

“Yes,” Louis laughed.

“Oh my God!” Jay repeated again. “Oh my God, Louis!”

“Breathe, Mum,” Louis chuckled.

“Louis!” Jay screamed again. “Oh, Louis, I’m so happy for you! Oh, I can’t even believe it!”

“Well, you do have a little bit of time to get used to the idea,” Louis teased. “I don’t know exactly when I’ll ask him, but it probably won’t be very long.”

 “Louis, I swear to God I’m going to smack you so hard the next time I see you; I can’t believe you’re telling me this over the phone!”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Louis said sincerely. “But you have to understand, there was no way I was going to be able to go to Doncaster without Harry wanting to come to, and with all the little ears at your house Harry would know what was going on within seconds.”

“So do you have a plan? Do you know how you want to ask him?” Jay asked excitedly.

“No plan yet,” Louis reported. “I know that I want to do it privately, at home, just the two of us. I don’t have a particular time-frame, though. I just want to wait until the moment is right.”

“You do understand that from now until it happens, every single phone call I get from you or Harry I’ll think is the one, right?” Jay teased.

“I promise, the moment it happens we will call you,” Louis vowed. “And then we’ll come up to Donny so we can have a proper celebration.”

“You’d better,” Jay threatened, before Louis could hear her sniffling over the phone. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so proud of you. I couldn’t ask for anyone better for you than Harry.”

“Thanks, Mum,” Louis said sincerely. He had always been close to his mother, and her opinion truly did matter a lot to him.

“I love you so much,” Jay said. “And give all my love to Harry.”

“Love you too,” Louis responded with a small smile before hanging up the phone.

When it came time for Louis to pay a visit to Anne’s residence at Buckingham Palace to officially ask for Harry’s hand in marriage, Louis was relatively certain that he’d never been more nervous about anything in his life. It wasn’t that he was nervous she would say no, per say, but more that she would have reservations about them getting engaged so young. Louis was 25, but Harry was only 23, and even though they certainly wouldn’t be the first people they knew getting married so young, it was still a bit young to be planning a wedding.

“Hi brother-in-law!” Gemma exclaimed, opening the door to Anne and Robin’s apartment.

“Shh!” Louis laughed, leaning in to give her a tight hug. “Don’t give me away yet!”

Gemma had been such a huge support system for Louis while he planned out the proposal. She was always there for him to bounce ideas off of, and knew exactly what Harry would go for and wouldn’t. Plus, she was incredibly happy for the two of them, which always helped.

“I can’t believe you’re really doing this,” Gemma said softly, before laughing, “I can’t believe my little brother is getting married before me!”

“Aw, cheer up, Gems, I hear Niall’s available if you need a date to the wedding,” Louis teased.

“You are absolutely terrible,” Gemma said, but she was too happy to even feign resentment.

“Only sometimes,” Louis promised, giving her a cheeky grin. She slapped his cheek affectionately before nodding her head and turning away.

“Come on, Mum’s through here,” Gemma said, leading him through the foyer and down a hallway where Anne and Robin were in Anne’s private study.

“Does she know why I’m here?” Louis asked.

“Not a clue, but I’m sure she’ll figure it out about five seconds after seeing you. Are you sweating?!” Gemma teased.

“I hate you,” Louis laughed. “I’d like to see you try to do this. It’s fucking terrifying.”

Gemma just stuck her tongue out at him before knocking on Anne’s door.

“Come in!” Anne called.

“Look who I found outside!” Gemma exclaimed, opening the door and pulling Louis inside.

“Louis!” Anne exclaimed with a delighted smile. She rose to give him a warm hug before asking, “What brings you by, darling?”

“I was actually hoping to talk to you and Robin for a few minutes about, well, something quite important,” Louis said, briefly wondering if anyone else could hear his heart pounding in his chest or if that was just him.

“Of course,” Anne said, eyes wide and curious, motioning Louis to sit down in a chair while she took the place next to Robin on the sofa. Gemma chose that moment to quietly sneak out of the room, although Louis was certain that she was listening to everything directly on the other side of the door.

“Is everything alright?” Robin asked, concerned.

“Oh, no, everything’s fine. Great, in fact,” Louis said, stumbling through his words before taking a deep breath and soldiering on. “You know that Harry and I have been dating for a few years, now. Three, in fact.”

“We do,” Anne confirmed, face breaking into a beaming smile as it occurred to her just what Louis’ visit must be for.

“And I think that a lot has happened in those three years,” Louis said thoughtfully. “Harry and I have really grown up together, and these last three years have been the happiest of my life. We’ve known pretty much from the start that what we have is really special, and I know that I will never, _could_ never love anyone as much as I love him,” Louis took a deep breath before continuing on, “I know we’re young, and I know that marrying Harry comes with its own unique set of circumstances and responsibilities, and I’m ready for that. For everything that comes with him, because I could not be more committed to Harry, and I would like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with him. And I can promise you that I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to make him happy. Because he makes me happy. Every day. So, I’ve come here to ask for your blessing. I’d like to ask Harry to marry me.”

“Sweetheart,” Anne choked out, having already started crying in the middle of his speech. “Of course. _Of course_ you have our blessing. There’s nothing in the world that would make us happier. Oh, God, come here, I need another hug!” She exclaimed with a laugh, dabbing at her eyes before standing up and hugging Louis fiercely.

“Welcome to the family,” Robin said sincerely, standing up and giving Louis a tight hug after Anne had finally let go. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thank you,” Louis said sincerely, swallowing hard before trying to lighten the mood, “but I’ve still got to ask him! He hasn’t said yes yet, it could go either way!”

“You complete and total idiot,” Gemma said, walking into the room, red-rimmed eyes confirming that she’d been eavesdropping the entire time. “As if he would ever say anything other than yes.”

“Well…” Louis began, but he really didn’t have much of an argument, and Gemma was hugging him too tightly for him even to care.

“I want to hear all of the details,” Anne said enthusiastically. “When should we be expecting the official phone call?”

“I don’t have an exact plan,” Louis said, wincing internally as he realized that when proposing to the Prince of England, he probably should have had _some_ kind of plan in mind.

“That’s okay, Harry likes that you’re spontaneous,” Anne said reassuringly.

“I do know that I’d like to do it at home, just the two of us. I guess I’m just waiting for the right moment?”

“Don’t wait too long,” Anne implored. “I’m going to be absolutely beside myself until we get the official word.”

“I won’t,” Louis promised with a grin.

Louis hid the ring in a shoe in the back of his closet until the perfect moment. He still didn’t have much of a plan, but he was certain that he wanted to propose to Harry at home, where they were safe and comfortable and away from the prying eyes of the world. He was just waiting for the moment to feel right.

That moment came almost a month later. Louis walked in the front door after a long day of writing, and Harry was standing at the stove, sautéing vegetables in a ridiculously pink and green striped apron.

“Hi, babe,” Harry greeted, looking up from the pan just long enough to give Louis a warm smile.

“Smells good,” Louis complimented, walking over to give Harry a quick kiss. “What are you making?”

“Family favorite, fajitas,” Harry responded.

“Mmm, my favorite!” Louis said happily.

“That’s literally what I just said,” Harry laughed, shaking his head at Louis.

Oh. _Oh._ And in that moment it hit Louis. He and Harry were a _family_. A crazy, unconventional, dramatically in love, will be together for the rest of their lives little family.

Suddenly, he couldn’t wait. He had to do it.

“I wanna help, just give me a minute to drop my stuff upstairs,” Louis said, gesturing to the bag he was holding.

Louis didn’t wait for an answer before he was running up the front stairs, throwing his bag unceremoniously on their bedroom floor and digging around in his closet for the ring. Finding it, he took a deep breath and removed it from the box, slipping it into his pocket before heading back down to the kitchen.

“What can I help with?” Louis asked.

“Umm, you can take care of the tortillas, if you want,” Harry said, gesturing to the bag of tortillas on the counter.

“I think I can handle that,” Louis said with a smirk before grabbing a plate from the cupboard and opening the package of tortillas.

“How did things go at the studio?” Harry asked.

“Great!” Louis replied enthusiastically. “I know that the band is officially on a break right now, but I love that unofficially we can still keep writing and messing around in the studio.”

“I can’t wait to hear what you’ve come up with,” Harry said enthusiastically.

“You should come down to the studio next time and sit in,” Louis suggested.

“Be your Yoko?” Harry teased.

“Every band needs one,” Louis laughed, before arranging the tortillas in a pile on the plate and frowning. “Haz, there’s something on these tortillas.”

“What?” Harry cried disappointedly before walking over to check them himself. “How are they moldy already?! I just bought them two—” his voice trailed off after he lifted up the first tortilla. Sitting right in the middle of the plate was the ring. His eyes widened as they darted to Louis, mouth opening and closing, for once completely stunned into silence.

“Harold,” Louis started, a huge grin spreading out across his face, before his eyes became serious and focused on Harry’s face as he sank down to one knee. Harry let out a tiny gasp and his hands immediately went up to his face. “Harry, I love you. I’ve loved you from the moment I met you. I think I’ve loved you from the very first tweets, even. You make me happier than I ever thought I could be, and I know, without a doubt, that we were meant to be together. You’re my soulmate, the other half of my heart, and I want nothing more than to spend every single day for the rest of my life loving you. Will you marry me?”

“Oh my God,” Harry breathed, and Louis could see his hands actually tremble. “ _Lou,_ ” Harry said softly, tears in his eyes. “Yes. Of course!”

Louis stood up, and Harry immediately pulled him into a kiss. He could feel Harry shaking beneath him, and he pulled away with concern in his eyes.

“Hazza, are you okay, love?”

“I just…I really, really love you,” Harry said, a single tear slipping down his cheek. “I never thought this could be my life.”

Louis’ heart broke at the confession, but he completely understood where Harry was coming from. They’d talked about it before, about all of the baggage that comes with marrying a royal, and the inevitable media storm that would come from a high-profile gay marriage. The thing was, Louis didn’t really care about any of that. None of it was important. The important thing was that he was going to spend the rest of his life with Harry, and he would walk through fire and ice to make sure that happened.

“Well, believe it, babe,” Louis said softly, cupping Harry’s face in his hands. “I’m gonna marry you. And we’re going to be so happy, Harry. We’re gonna get married, and have a family, and grow old together. You and me.”

Harry practically sobbed as he threw himself at Louis, burying his face in Louis’ neck as they stood there holding each other. After a minute went by, Harry started laughing, pulling back from Louis slightly and wiping his eyes with the bottom of his sleeve.

“Oh my God, we’re getting married!” Harry exclaimed, face breaking into the most glorious smile that Louis had ever seen.

**X**

“The world has watched your romance unfold, from the very first tweets,” Barbara said with a smile, making Harry and Louis laugh. “Can you bring us back to the early days of your relationship? It seems there was a lot going on at one time.”

“There was,” Harry confirmed. “Louis and I started talking over twitter the day I publically came out, and then we met in person a few weeks later. We formed a strong friendship before we started dating, and I think that was so important for us. Louis wasn’t out yet at the time, and I wasn’t even sure what the long-term reaction to my coming out would be, so we definitely took things slowly in the beginning. I think we both wanted to be sure of what we were getting into, and then of course we had formed such a strong friendship that there was the fear of that being ruined if we were to start dating and then break up, but…I dunno, it seems to have worked out so far,” Harry said with a laugh.

“Louis, Prince Harry brought up the fact that you weren’t out at the time you started dating, but you did come out soon after. Did your relationship with Prince Harry play a role in that decision?” Barbara asked curiously.

“Oh, absolutely,” Louis responded. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t. On a personal level, I was extremely tired of hiding who I was and having to carry around this big secret, but Harry gave me the extra push of courage, if you will, to go out and do something about it. I knew that our relationship would come with a whole host of complications, and I wanted to give it the best shot that I could, and I knew that in order to do that we couldn’t be sneaking around. Plus, Harry had just gone and done something incredibly brave and revolutionary by coming out. He deserved to be with someone who was proud to be seen with him.”

“And be seen with him you were,” Barbara joked. “You two are no strangers to the public, and your trips around London are well-documented. People always have very complimentary things to say about your interactions with fans. Can you two go out anywhere without being seen? Does it ever get tiring?”

“I think, just like with anyone in our position, you have, you know, places you can go where you know they’ll be discreet or you won’t be bothered, and then the rest is really left up to chance,” Harry said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “But, one thing that’s always been important for us is to live our lives as normally as possible. If I need to go to Tesco, I’ll go. If we want to go get a milkshake, we will, you know? We’re not the kind of people who feel comfortable asking other people to do our errands for us.”

“Right, and if we’re just popping in and out of a store we’ll probably have a few people come up to us, but it’s when we stay in one place for too long that sometimes we can get too large of a crowd to be able to safely talk to everyone. But, generally people are really nice, and I think we both operate under the assumption that if you’re kind and respectful to the people you meet, then chances are they’ll be kind and respectful to you,” Louis added.

“You’ve also been seen quite a bit spending time with each other’s families. Are you close with your future in-laws?” Barbara asked.

“Very close,” Harry confirmed. “Louis’ mum is like a second mum to me, and I adore his siblings almost as much as he does,” Harry laughed.

“The same holds true for me as well,” Louis answered. “Harry’s entire family has just been so warm and welcoming to me from the very start. I really couldn’t love them more.”

“One thing people comment on all the time is what a low-key couple you seem to be. You’re not in the papers or making headlines for arguing or breaking up or cheating. Is your relationship as idyllic as it appears to be?” Barbara asked.

“It’s just a normal relationship, I think,” Harry said.

“Sure, we argue just like any other couple,” Louis agreed. “As for the rest of it, I think that’s just down to our personalities. Neither of us are really the kind of people to have an argument in public, or cheat, or have an on-again off-again relationship. We’re pretty settled. Boring, really, not much of a story there,” Louis laughed.

“You do seem quite settled, and very happy together,” Barbara complimented with a smile. “So tell us what the future holds? Will you continue on with One Direction, Louis? Are there kids in your future?”

“One Direction is on a much-needed break right now,” Louis explained. “We’ve just been going and going since we were 18 years old, so we all needed some time to ourselves to kind of live our lives outside of the band. When everyone is ready to pick things back up, though, I’ll definitely be there,” Louis confirmed. “In the meantime, I’m excited to get involved in other projects, and now it looks like I’ll be doing charity work with Harry and the rest of the Royal Family, so I’m definitely looking forward to branching out a bit.”

“And kids?” Barbara prompted.

“Definitely,” Harry said with a grin.

“Absolutely,” Louis said, looking at Harry with a wide smile.

“Really?” Barbara asked, “Even as young as you are?”

“We’ve always wanted kids,” Harry explained.

“One hundred percent,” Louis confirmed.

“Have you talked about how many you want?” Barbara asked.

“Well, if I left it up to Harry we’d have like at least six kids,” Louis teased.

“I like even numbers,” Harry laughed. “That way everyone has a friend and no one gets left out by their other siblings.”

“Even is fine, Harold, but six kids is excessive,” Louis laughed, teasing Harry and completely forgetting about the cameras.

“Four, then,” Harry amended.

“I’m open to four,” Louis said with a grin. “But I think that our official answer will be that we love kids, and are open to a big family, so we’ll just see how it goes.”

“Louis, you have quite a large family yourself, right?” Barbara asked.

“I do,” Louis confirmed. “I have six siblings, if you can believe it. Four sisters and two brothers.”

“And you’re the oldest?” Barbara asked.

“I am,” Louis said. “I’m about seven years older than my oldest sister, so I’d like to think that I know a thing or two about raising a big family,” Louis laughed.

“Prince Harry, coming from a rather small family yourself, was it difficult fitting in with such a large family?” Barbara asked.

“It was a little overwhelming at first,” Harry admitted. “But Louis’ family is amazing, and his sisters and I get along so well that it wasn’t difficult at all.”

“He completely charmed them within seconds of meeting them,” Louis bragged.

“They charmed me, too,” Harry insisted. “His youngest sisters were braiding my hair within minutes,” Harry laughed.

“I thought you were indulgent with them, but you’re about ten times worse with my brothers!” Louis teased. “He’s terrible,” Louis confessed conspiratorially, “He spoils them rotten, they’ve got him completely wrapped around their finger.”

“Oh, like you’re any better!” Harry laughed good-naturedly, not even trying to deny the accusation.

“I can see how much you both love children. So, should we be watching for a Royal Announcement soon after the wedding, then?” Barbara asked.

“Well, I don’t know about soon after,” Harry laughed. “You’re right, we are still young. We definitely want kids, and I don’t think we’ll wait like ten years or anything, but in a few years definitely.”

“Stay tuned,” Louis laughed.

“We will definitely be staying tuned,” Barbara smiled. “Prince Harry, Louis, it has been an honor and an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for allowing me to be here, and my sincerest congratulations on your engagement.”

“Thank you,” Harry and Louis chirped happily, before the cameras were shut off and a crew busily started working on breaking down the lights and cameras and clearing out. Barbara gave Harry and Louis her warmest wishes once more before they were standing and an aide was ushering them into the hallway.

One interview down, but they still had their official engagement pictures to take, then a meeting with Anne, and Louis still needed to be assigned his own personal security detail. Their day was really only just starting, and at the overwhelming thought of everything they had left to do, Louis shook his head, blowing a puff of air out from his mouth before looking at Harry.

“What happens now?” Louis asked.

Harry turned to look at him, a soft, fond smile playing at his lips as he gave the only answer he could, and the best that Louis could imagine.

“The future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on tumblr, if you'd like! andthensusays.tumblr.com


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